Targeted DNA insertion in plants

ABSTRACT

Methods and means are provided to improve targeted DNA insertion in plants using rare-cleaving “double stranded break” inducing enzymes. Also provided are improved I-SceI encoding nucleotide sequences.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a U.S. national stage application of International Application No. PCT/EP2004/013122, filed on Nov. 17, 2004, which claims the benefit of European Patent Application No. 03078700.6, filed on Nov. 18, 2003, the disclosures of each of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The current invention relates to the field of molecular plant biology, more specific to the field of plant genome engineering. Methods are provided for the directed introduction of a foreign DNA fragment at a preselected insertion site in the genome of a plant. Plants containing the foreign DNA inserted at a particular site can now be obtained at a higher frequency and with greater accuracy than is possible with the currently available targeted DNA insertion methods. Moreover, in a large proportion of the resulting plants, the foreign DNA has only been inserted at the preselected insertion site, without the foreign DNA also having been inserted randomly at other locations in the plant's genome. The methods of the invention are thus an improvement, both quantitatively and qualitatively, over the prior art methods. Also provided are chimeric genes, plasmids, vectors and other means to be used in the methods of the invention.

BACKGROUND ART

The first generation of transgenic plants in the early 80's of last century by Agrobacterium mediated transformation technology, has spurred the development of other methods to introduce a foreign DNA of interest or a transgene into the genome of a plant, such as PEG mediated DNA uptake in protoplast, microprojectile bombardment, silicon whisker mediated transformation etc.

All the plant transformation methods, however, have in common that the transgenes incorporated in the plant genome are integrated in a random fashion and in unpredictable copy number. Frequently, the transgenes can be integrated in the form of repeats, either of the whole transgene or of parts thereof. Such a complex integration pattern may influence the expression level of the transgenes, e.g. by destruction of the transcribed RNA through posttranscriptional gene silencing mechanisms or by inducing methylation of the introduced DNA, thereby downregulating the transcriptional activity on the transgene. Also, the integration site per se can influence the level of expression of the transgene. The combination of these factors results in a wide variation in the level of expression of the transgenes or foreign DNA of interest among different transgenic plant cell and plant lines. Moreover, the integration of the foreign DNA of interest may have a disruptive effect on the region of the genome where the integration occurs, and can influence or disturb the normal function of that target region, thereby leading to, often undesirable, side-effects.

Therefore, whenever the effect of introduction of a particular foreign DNA into a plant is investigated, it is required that a large number of transgenic plant lines are generated and analysed in order to obtain significant results. Likewise, in the generation of transgenic crop plants, where a particular DNA of interest is introduced in plants to provide the transgenic plant with a desired, known phenotype, a large population of independently created transgenic plant lines or so-called events is created, to allow the selection of those plant lines with optimal expression of the transgenes, and with minimal, or no, side-effects on the overall phenotype of the transgenic plant. Particularly in this field, it would be advantageous if this trial-and-error process could be replaced by a more directed approach, in view of the burdensome regulatory requirements and high costs associated with the repeated field trials required for the elimination of the unwanted transgenic events. Furthermore, it will be clear that the possibility of targeted DNA insertion would also be beneficial in the process of so-called transgene stacking.

The need to control transgene integration in plants has been recognized early on, and several methods have been developed in an effort to meet this need (for a review see Kumar and Fladung, 2001, Trends in Plant Science, 6, pp 155-159). These methods mostly rely on homologous recombination-based transgene integration, a strategy which has been successfully applied in prokaryotes and lower eukaryotes (see e.g. EP0317509 or the corresponding publication by Paszkowski et al., 1988, EMBO J., 7, pp 4021-4026). However, for plants, the predominant mechanism for transgene integration is based on illegitimate recombination which involves little homology between the recombining DNA strands. A major challenge in this area is therefore the detection of the rare homologous recombination events, which are masked by the far more efficient integration of the introduced foreign DNA via illegitimate recombination.

One way of solving this problem is by selecting against the integration events that have occurred by illegitimate recombination, such as exemplified in WO94/17176.

Another way of solving the problem is by activation of the target locus and/or repair or donor DNA through the induction of double stranded DNA breaks via rare-cutting endonucleases, such as I-SceI. This technique has been shown to increase the frequency of homologous recombination by at least two orders of magnitude using Agrobacteria to deliver the repair DNA to the plant cells (Puchta et al., 1996, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 93, pp 5055-5060; Chilton and Que, Plant Physiol., 2003).

WO96/14408 describes an isolated DNA encoding the enzyme I-SceI. This DNA sequence can be incorporated in cloning and expression vectors, transformed cell lines and transgenic animals. The vectors are useful in gene mapping and site-directed insertion of genes.

WO00/46386 describes methods of modifying, repairing, attenuating and inactivating a gene or other chromosomal DNA in a cell through I-SceI double strand break. Also disclosed are methods of treating or prophylaxis of a genetic disease in an individual in need thereof. Further disclosed are chimeric restriction endonucleases.

However, there still remains a need for improving the frequency of targeted insertion of a foreign DNA in the genome of a eukaryotic cell, particularly in the genome of a plant cell. These and other problems are solved as described hereinafter in the different detailed embodiments of the invention, as well as in the claims.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment, the invention provides a method for introducing a foreign DNA of interest, which may be flanked by a DNA region having at least 80% sequence identity to a DNA region flanking a preselected site, into a preselected site, such as an I-SceI site of a genome of a plant cell, such as a maize cell comprising the steps of

-   -   (a) inducing a double stranded DNA break at the preselected site         in the genome of the cell, e.g by introducing an I-SceI encoding         gene;     -   (b) introducing the foreign DNA of interest into the plant cell;         characterized in that the foreign DNA is delivered by direct DNA         transfer which may be accomplished by bombardment of         microprojectiles coated with the foreign DNA of interest. The         I-SceI encoding gene can comprise a nucleotide sequence encoding         the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No 1, wherein said nucleotide         sequence has a GC content of about 50% to about 60%, provided         that

-   i) the nucleotide sequence does not comprise a nucleotide sequence     selected from the group consisting of GATAAT, TATAAA, AATATA,     AATATT, GATAAA, AATGAA, AATAAG, AATAAA, AATAAT, AACCAA, ATATAA,     AATCAA, ATACTA, ATAAAA, ATGAAA, AAGCAT, ATTAAT, ATACAT, AAAATA,     ATTAAA, AATTAA, AATACA and CATAAA;

-   ii) the nucleotide does not comprise a nucleotide sequence selected     from the group consisting of CCAAT, ATTGG, GCAAT and ATTGC;

-   iii) the nucleotide sequence does not comprise a sequence selected     from the group consisting of ATTTA, AAGGT, AGGTA, GGTA or GCAGG;

-   iv) the nucleotide sequence does not comprise a GC stretch     consisting of 7 consecutive nucleotides selected from the group of G     or C;

-   v) the nucleotide sequence does not comprise a AT stretch consisting     of 5 consecutive nucleotides selected from the group of A or T; and

-   vi) the nucleotide sequence does not comprise the codons TTA, CTA,     ATA, GTA, TCG, CCG, ACG and GCG. An example of such an I-SceI     encoding gene comprises the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID 4.

The plant cell may be incubated in a plant phenolic compound prior to step a).

In another embodiment, the invention relates to a method for introducing a foreign DNA of interest into a preselected site of a genome of a plant cell comprising the steps of

-   -   (a) inducing a double stranded DNA break at the preselected site         in the genome of the cell;     -   (b) introducing the foreign DNA of interest into the plant cell;     -   characterized in that the double stranded DNA break is         introduced by a rare cutting endonuclease encoded by a         nucleotide sequence wherein said nucleotide sequence has a GC         content of about 50% to about 60%, provided that         -   i) the nucleotide sequence does not comprise a nucleotide             sequence selected from the group consisting of GATAAT,             TATAAA, AATATA, AATATT, GATAAA, AATGAA, AATAAG, AATAAA,             AATAAT, AACCAA, ATATAA, AATCAA, ATACTA, ATAAAA, ATGAAA,             AAGCAT, ATTAAT, ATACAT, AAAATA, ATTAAA, AATTAA, AATACA and             CATAAA;         -   ii) the nucleotide does not comprise a nucleotide sequence             selected from the group consisting of CCAAT, ATTGG, GCAAT             and ATTGC;         -   iii) the nucleotide sequence does not comprise a sequence             selected from the group consisting of ATTTA, AAGGT, AGGTA,             GGTA or GCAGG;         -   iv) the nucleotide sequence does not comprise a GC stretch             consisting of 7 consecutive nucleotides selected from the             group of G or C;         -   v) the nucleotide sequence does not comprise a AT stretch             consisting of 5 consecutive nucleotides selected from the             group of A or T; and         -   vi) the nucleotide sequence does not comprise the codons             TTA, CTA, ATA, GTA, TCG, CCG, ACG and GCG.

In yet another embodiment, the invention relates to a method for introducing a foreign DNA of interest into a preselected site of a genome of a plant cell comprising the steps of

-   -   (a) inducing a double stranded DNA break at the preselected site         in the genome of the cell;     -   (b) introducing the foreign DNA of interest into the plant cell;         characterized in that prior to step a, the plant cells are         incubated in a plant phenolic compound which may be selected         from the group of acetosyringone         (3,5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxyacetophenone), α-hydroxy-acetosyringone,         sinapinic acid (3,5 dimethoxy-4-hydroxycinnamic acid), syringic         acid (4-hydroxy-3,5 dimethoxybenzoic acid), ferulic acid         (4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamic acid), catechol         (1,2-dihydroxybenzene), p-hydroxybenzoic acid (4-hydroxybenzoic         acid), β-resorcylic acid (2,4 dihydroxybenzoic acid),         protocatechuic acid (3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid), pyrrogallic         acid (2,3,4-trihydroxybenzoic acid), gallic acid         (3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid) and vanillin         (3-methoxy-4-hydroxybenzaldehyde).

The invention also provides an isolated DNA fragment comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No 1, wherein the nucleotide sequence has a GC content of about 50% to about 60%, provided that

-   -   i) the nucleotide sequence does not comprise a nucleotide         sequence selected from the group consisting of GATAAT, TATAAA,         AATATA, AATATT, GATAAA, AATGAA, AATAAG, AATAAA, AATAAT, AACCAA,         ATATAA, AATCAA, ATACTA, ATAAAA, ATGAAA, AAGCAT, ATTAAT, ATACAT,         AAAATA, ATTAAA, AATTAA, AATACA and CATAAA; ii) the nucleotide         does not comprise a nucleotide sequence selected from the group         consisting of CCAAT, ATTGG, GCAAT and ATTGC;     -   iii) the nucleotide sequence does not comprise a sequence         selected from the group consisting of ATTTA, AAGGT, AGGTA, GGTA         or GCAGG;     -   iv) the nucleotide sequence does not comprise a GC stretch         consisting of 7 consecutive nucleotides selected from the group         of G or C;     -   v) the nucleotide sequence does not comprise a AT stretch         consisting of 5 consecutive nucleotides selected from the group         of A or T; and     -   vi) codons of said nucleotide sequence coding for leucine (Leu),         isoleucine (Ile), valine (Val), serine (Ser), proline (Pro),         threonine (Thr), alanine (Ala) do not comprise TA or GC duplets         in positions 2 and 3 of said codons.

The invention also provides an isolated DNA sequence comprising the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID No 4, as well as chimeric gene comprising the isolated DNA fragment according to the invention operably linked to a plant-expressible promoter and the use of such a chimeric gene to insert a foreign DNA into an I-SceI recognition site in the genome of a plant.

In yet another embodiment of the invention, a method is provided for introducing a foreign DNA of interest into a preselected site of a genome of a plant cell comprising the steps of

-   a) inducing a double stranded DNA break at the preselected site in     the genome of the cell by a rare cutting endonuclease -   b) introducing the foreign DNA of interest into the plant cell;     characterized in that said endonuclease comprises a nuclear     localization signal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Table 1 represents the possible trinucleotide (codon) choices for a synthetic I-SceI coding region (see also the nucleotide sequence in SEQ ID No 2).

Table 2 represents preferred possible trinucleotide choices for a synthetic I-SceI coding region (see also the nucleotide sequence in SEQ ID No 3).

FIG. 1: Schematic representation of the target locus (A) and the repair DNA (B) used in the assay for homologous recombination mediated targeted DNA insertion. The target locus after recombination is also represented (C). DSB site: double stranded DNA break site; 3′g7: transcription termination and polyadenylation signal of A. tumefaciens gene 7; neo: plant expressible neomycin phosphotransferase; 35S: promoter of the CaMV 35S transcript; 5′ bar: DNA region encoding the amino terminal portion of the phosphinotricin acetyltransferase; 3′nos: transcription termination and polyadenylation signal of A. tumefaciens nopaline synthetase gene; Pnos: promoter of the nopaline synthetase gene of A. tumefaciens; 3′ocs: 3′ transcription termination and polyadenylation signal of the octopine synthetase gene of A. tumefaciens.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The current invention is based on the following findings:

-   a) Introduction into the plant cells of the foreign DNA to be     inserted via direct DNA transfer, particularly microprojectile     bombardment, unexpectedly increased the frequency of targeted     insertion events. All of the obtained insertion events were targeted     DNA insertion events, which occurred at the site of the induced     double stranded DNA break. Moreover all of these targeted insertion     events appeared to be exact recombination events between the     provided sequence homology flanking the double stranded DNA break.     Only about half of these events had an additional insertion of the     foreign DNA at a site different from the site of the induced double     stranded DNA break. -   b) Induction of the double stranded DNA break by transient     expression of a rare-cutting double stranded break inducing     endonuclease, such as I-SceI, encoded by chimeric gene comprising a     synthetic coding region for a rare-cutting endonuclease such as     I-SceI designed according to a preselected set of rules surprisingly     increased the quality of the resulting targeted DNA insertion events     (i.e. the frequency of perfectly targeted DNA insertion events).     Furthermore, the endonuclease had been equipped with a nuclear     localization signal. -   c) Preincubation of the target cells in a plant phenolic compound,     such as acetosyringone, further increased the frequency of targeted     insertion at double stranded DNA breaks induced in the genome of a     plant cell.

Any of the above findings, either alone or in combination, improves the frequency with which homologous recombination based targeted insertion events can be obtained, as well as the quality of the recovered events.

Thus, in one aspect, the invention relates to a method for introducing a foreign DNA of interest into a preselected site of a genome of a plant cell comprising the steps of

-   -   (a) inducing a double stranded DNA break at the preselected site         in the genome of the cell;     -   (b) introducing the foreign DNA of interest into the plant cell;     -   characterized in that the foreign DNA is delivered by direct DNA         transfer.

As used herein “direct DNA transfer” is any method of DNA introduction into plant cells which does not involve the use of natural Agrobacterium spp. which is capable of introducing DNA into plant cells. This includes methods well known in the art such as introduction of DNA by electroporation into protoplasts, introduction of DNA by electroporation into intact plant cells or partially degraded tissues or plant cells, introduction of DNA through the action of agents such as PEG and the like, into protoplasts, and particularly bombardment with DNA coated microprojectiles. Introduction of DNA by direct transfer into plant cells differs from Agrobacterium-mediated DNA introduction at least in that double stranded DNA enters the plant cell, in that the entering DNA is not coated with any protein, and in that the amount of DNA entering the plant cell may be considerably greater. Furthermore, DNA introduced by direct transfer methods, such as the introduced chimeric gene encoding a double stranded DNA break inducing endonuclease, may be more amenable to transcription, resulting in a better timing of the induction of the double stranded DNA break. Although not intending to limit the invention to a particular mode of action, it is thought that the efficient homology-recombination-based insertion of repair DNA or foreign DNA in the genome of a plant cell may be due to a combination of any of these parameters.

Conveniently, the double stranded DNA break may be induced at the preselected site by transient expression after introduction of a plant-expressible gene encoding a rare cleaving double stranded break inducing enzyme. As set forth elsewhere in this document, I-SceI may be used for that purpose to introduce a foreign DNA at an I-SceI recognition site. However, it will be immediately clear to the person skilled in the art that also other double stranded break inducing enzymes can be used to insert the foreign DNA at their respective recognition sites. A list of rare cleaving DSB inducing enzymes and their respective recognition sites is provided in Table I of WO 03/004659 (pages 17 to 20) (incorporated herein by reference). Furthermore, methods are available to design custom-tailored rare-cleaving endonucleases that recognize basically any target nucleotide sequence of choice. Such methods have been described e.g. in WO 03/080809, WO94/18313 or WO95/09233 and in Isalan et al., 2001, Nature Biotechnology 19, 656-660; Liu et al. 1997, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94, 5525-5530.)

Thus, as used herein “a preselected site” indicates a particular nucleotide sequence in the plant nuclear genome at which location it is desired to insert the foreign DNA. A person skilled in the art would be perfectly able to either choose a double stranded DNA break inducing (“DSBI”) enzyme recognizing the selected target nucleotide sequence or engineer such a DSBI endonuclease. Alternatively, a DSBI endonuclease recognition site may be introduced into the plant genome using any conventional transformation method or by conventional breeding using a plant line having a DSBI endonuclease recognition site in its genome, and any desired foreign DNA may afterwards be introduced into that previously introduced preselected target site.

The double stranded DNA break may be induced conveniently by transient introduction of a plant-expressible chimeric gene comprising a plant-expressible promoter region operably linked to a DNA region encoding a double stranded break inducing enzyme. The DNA region encoding a double stranded break inducing enzyme may be a synthetic DNA region, such as but not limited to, a synthetic DNA region whereby the codons are chosen according to the design scheme as described elsewhere in this application for I-SceI encoding regions.

The double stranded break inducing enzyme may comprise, but need not comprise, a nuclear localization signal (NLS) [Raikhel, Plant Physiol. 100: 1627-1632 (1992) and references therein], such as the NLS of SV40 large T-antigen [Kalderon et al. Cell 39: 499-509 (1984)]. The nuclear localization signal may be located anywhere in the protein, but is conveniently located at the N-terminal end of the protein. The nuclear localization signal may replace one or more of the amino acids of the double stranded break inducing enzyme.

As used herein “foreign DNA of interest” indicates any DNA fragment which one may want to introduce at the preselected site. Although it is not strictly required, the foreign DNA of interest may be flanked by at least one nucleotide sequence region having homology to a DNA region flanking the preselected site. The foreign DNA of interest may be flanked at both sites by DNA regions having homology to both DNA regions flanking the preselected site. Thus the repair DNA molecule(s) introduced into the plant cell may comprise a foreign DNA flanked by one or two flanking sequences having homology to the DNA regions respectively upstream or downstream the preselected site. This allows to better control the insertion of the foreign DNA. Indeed, integration by homologous recombination will allow precise joining of the foreign DNA fragment to the plant nuclear genome up to the nucleotide level.

The flanking nucleotide sequences may vary in length, and should be at least about 10 nucleotides in length. However, the flanking region may be as long as is practically possible (e.g. up to about 100-150 kb such as complete bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs)). Preferably, the flanking region will be about 50 bp to about 2000 bp. Moreover, the regions flanking the foreign DNA of interest need not be identical to the DNA regions flanking the preselected site and may have between about 80% to about 100% sequence identity, preferably about 95% to about 100% sequence identity with the DNA regions flanking the preselected site. The longer the flanking region, the less stringent the requirement for homology. Furthermore, it is preferred that the sequence identity is as high as practically possible in the vicinity of the location of exact insertion of the foreign DNA.

Moreover, the regions flanking the foreign DNA of interest need not have homology to the regions immediately flanking the preselected site, but may have homology to a DNA region of the nuclear genome further remote from that preselected site. Insertion of the foreign DNA will then result in a removal of the target DNA between the preselected insertion site and the DNA region of homology. In other words, the target DNA located between the homology regions will be substituted for the foreign DNA of interest.

For the purpose of this invention, the “sequence identity” of two related nucleotide or amino acid sequences, expressed as a percentage, refers to the number of positions in the two optimally aligned sequences which have identical residues (×100) divided by the number of positions compared. A gap, i.e. a position in an alignment where a residue is present in one sequence but not in the other, is regarded as a position with non-identical residues. The alignment of the two sequences is performed by the Needleman and Wunsch algorithm (Needleman and Wunsch 1970) Computer-assisted sequence alignment, can be conveniently performed using standard software program such as GAP which is part of the Wisconsin Package Version 10.1 (Genetics Computer Group, Madison, Wis., USA) using the default scoring matrix with a gap creation penalty of 50 and a gap extension penalty of 3.

In another aspect, the invention relates to a modified I-SceI encoding DNA fragment, and the use thereof to efficiently introduce a foreign DNA of interest into a preselected site of a genome of a plant cell, whereby the modified I-SceI encoding DNA fragment has a nucleotide sequence which has been designed to fulfill the following criteria:

-   -   a) the nucleotide sequence encodes a functional I-SceI         endonuclease, such as an I-SceI endonuclease having the amino         acid sequence as provided in SEQ ID No 1.     -   b) the nucleotide sequence has a GC content of about 50% to         about 60%     -   c) the nucleotide sequence does not comprise a nucleotide         sequence selected from the group consisting of GATAAT, TATAAA,         AATATA, AATATT, GATAAA, AATGAA, AATAAG, AATAAA, AATAAT, AACCAA,         ATATAA, AATCAA, ATACTA, ATAAAA, ATGAAA, AAGCAT, ATTAAT, ATACAT,         AAAATA, ATTAAA, AATTAA, AATACA and CATAAA;     -   d) the nucleotide does not comprise a nucleotide sequence         selected from the group consisting of CCAAT, ATTGG, GCAAT and         ATTGC;     -   e) the nucleotide sequence does not comprise a sequence selected         from the group consisting of ATTTA, AAGGT, AGGTA, GGTA or GCAGG;     -   f) the nucleotide sequence does not comprise a GC stretch         consisting of 7 consecutive nucleotides selected from the group         of G or C;     -   g) the nucleotide sequence does not comprise a GC stretch         consisting of 5 consecutive nucleotides selected from the group         of A or T; and     -   h) the nucleotide sequence does not comprise codons coding for         Leu, Ile, Val, Ser, Pro, Thr, Ala that comprise TA or CG duplets         in positions 2 and 3 (i.e. the nucleotide sequence does not         comprise the codons TTA, CTA, ATA, GTA, TCG, CCG, ACG and GCG).

I-SceI is a site-specific endonuclease, responsible for intron mobility in mitochondria in Saccharomyces cerevisea. The enzyme is encoded by the optional intron Sc LSU.1 of the 21S rRNA gene and initiates a double stranded DNA break at the intron insertion site generating a 4 bp staggered cut with 3′OH overhangs. The recognition site of I-SceI endonuclease extends over an 18 bp non-symmetrical sequence (Colleaux et al. 1988 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85: 6022-6026). The amino acid sequence for I-SceI and a universal code equivalent of the mitochondrial I-SceI gene have been provided by e.g. WO 96/14408.

WO 96/14408 discloses that the following variants of I-SceI protein are still functional:

-   -   positions 1 to 10 can be deleted     -   position 36: Gly (G) is tolerated     -   position 40: Met (M) or Val (V) are tolerated     -   position 41: Ser (S) or Asn (N) are tolerated     -   position 43: Ala (A) is tolerated     -   position 46: Val (V) or N (Asn) are tolerated     -   position 91: Ala (A) is tolerated     -   positions 123 and 156: Leu (L) is tolerated     -   position 223: Ala (A) and Ser (S) are tolerated         and synthetic nucleotide sequences encoding such variant I-SceI         enzymes can also be designed and used in accordance with the         current invention.

A nucleotide sequence encoding the amino acid sequence of I-SceI, wherein the amino-terminally located 4 amino acids have been replaced by a nuclear localization signal (SEQ ID 1) thus consist of 244 trinucleotides which can be represented as R1 through R244. For each of these positions between 1 and 6 possible choices of trinucleotides encoding the same amino acid are possible. Table 1 sets forth the possible choices for the trinucleotides encoding the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID 1 and provides for the structural requirements (either conditional or absolute) which allow to avoid inclusion into the synthetic DNA sequence the above mentioned “forbidden nucleotide sequences”. Also provided is the nucleotide sequence of the contiguous trinucleotides in UIPAC code.

As used herein, the symbols of the UIPAC code have their usual meaning i.e. N=A or C or G or T; R=A or G; Y=C or T; B=C or G or T (not A); V=A or C or G (not T); D=A or G or T (not C); H=A or C or T (not G); K=G or T; M=A or C; S=G or C; W=A or T.

Thus in one embodiment of the invention, an isolated synthetic DNA fragment is provided which comprises a nucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID No 2, wherein the codons are chosen among the choices provided in such a way as to obtain a nucleotide sequence with an overall GC content of about 50% to about 60%, preferably about 54%-55% provided that the nucleotide sequence from position 28 to position 30 is not AAG; if the nucleotide sequence from position 34 to position 36 is AAT then the nucleotide sequence from position 37 to position 39 is not ATT or ATA; if the nucleotide sequence form position 34 to position 36 is AAC then the nucleotide sequence from position 37 to position 39 is not ATT simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 40 to position 42 being AAA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 34 to position 36 is AAC then the nucleotide sequence from position 37 to position 39 is not ATA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 37 to position 39 is ATT or ATA then the nucleotide sequence from position 40 to 42 is not AAA; the nucleotide sequence from position 49 to position 51 is not CAA; the nucleotide sequence from position 52 to position 54 is not GTA; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 58 to position 63 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 67 to position 69 is CCC then the nucleotide sequence from position 70 to position 72 is not AAT; if the nucleotide sequence from position 76 to position 78 is AAA then the nucleotide sequence from position 79 to position 81 is not TTG simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 82 to 84 being CTN; if the nucleotide sequence from position 79 to position 81 is TTA or CTA then the nucleotide sequence from position 82 to position 84 is not TTA; the nucleotide sequence from position 88 to position 90 is not GAA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 91 to position 93 is TAT, then the nucleotide sequence from position 94 to position 96 is not AAA; if the nucleotide sequence from position from position 97 to position 99 is TCC or TCG or AGC then the nucleotide sequence from position 100 to 102 is not CCA simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 103 to 105 being TTR; it the nucleotide sequence from position 100 to 102 is CAA then the nucleotide sequence from position 103 to 105 is not TTA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 109 to position 111 is GAA then the nucleotide sequence from 112 to 114 is not TTA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 115 to 117 is AAT then the nucleotide sequence from position 118 to position 120 is not ATT or ATA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 121 to 123 is GAG then the nucleotide sequence from position 124 to position 126; the nucleotide sequence from position 133 to 135 is not GCA; the nucleotide sequence from position 139 to position 141 is not ATT; if the nucleotide sequence from position 142 to position 144 is GGA then the nucleotide sequence from position 145 to position 147 is not TTA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 145 to position 147 is TTA then the nucleotide sequence from position 148 to position 150 is not ATA simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 151 to 153 being TTR; if the nucleotide sequence from position 145 to position 147 is CTA then the nucleotide sequence from position 148 to position 150 is not ATA simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 151 to 153 being TTR; if the nucleotide sequence from position 148 to position 150 is ATA then the nucleotide sequence from position 151 to position 153 is not CTA or TTG; if the nucleotide sequence from position 160 to position 162 is GCA then the nucleotide sequence from position 163 to position 165 is not TAC; if the nucleotide sequence from position 163 to position 165 is TAT then the nucleotide sequence from position 166 to position 168 is not ATA simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 169 to position 171 being AGR; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 172 to position 177 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise GCAGG; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 178 to position 186 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise AGGTA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 193 to position 195 is TAT, then the nucleotide sequence from position 196 to position 198 is not TGC; the nucleotide sequence from position 202 to position 204 is not CAA; the nucleotide sequence from position 217 to position 219 is not AAT; if the nucleotide sequence from position 220 to position 222 is AAA then the nucleotide sequence from position 223 to position 225 is not GCA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 223 to position 225 is GCA then the nucleotide sequence from position 226 to position 228 is not TAC; if the nucleotide sequence from position 253 to position 255 is GAC, then the nucleotide sequence from position 256 to position 258 is not CAA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 277 to position 279 is CAT, then the nucleotide sequence from position 280 to position 282 is not AAA; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 298 to position 303 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 304 to position 306 is GGC then the nucleotide sequence from position 307 to position 309 is not AAT; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 307 to position 312 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 334 to position 342 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 340 to position 342 is AAG then the nucleotide sequence from position 343 to 345 is not CAT; if the nucleotide position from position 346 to position 348 is CAA then the nucleotide sequence from position 349 to position 351 is not GCA; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 349 to position 357 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; the nucleotide sequence from position 355 to position 357 is not AAT; if the nucleotide sequence from position 358 to position 360 is AAA then the nucleotide sequence from position 361 to 363 is not TTG; if the nucleotide sequence from position 364 to position 366 is GCC then the nucleotide sequence from position 367 to position 369 is not AAT; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 367 to position 378 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 382 to position 384 is AAT then the nucleotide sequence from position 385 to position 387 is not AAT; the nucleotide sequence from position 385 to position 387 is not AAT; if the nucleotide sequence from position 400 to 402 is CCC, then the nucleotide sequence from position 403 to 405 is not AAT; if the nucleotide sequence from position 403 to 405 is AAT, then the nucleotide sequence from position 406 to 408 is not AAT; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 406 to position 411 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 421 to position 426 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; the nucleotide sequence from position 430 to position 432 is not CCA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 436 to position 438 is TCA then the nucleotide sequence from position 439 to position 441 is not TTG; the nucleotide sequence from position 445 to position 447 is not TAT; the nucleotide sequence from position 481 to 483 is not AAT; if the nucleotide sequence from position 484 to position 486 is AAA, then the nucleotide sequence from position 487 to position 489 is not AAT simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 490 to position 492 being AGY; if the nucleotide sequence from position 490 to position 492 is TCA, then the nucleotide sequence from position 493 to position 495 is not ACC simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 496 to 498 being AAY; if the nucleotide sequence from position 493 to position 495 is ACC, then the nucleotide sequence from position 496 to 498 is not AAT; the nucleotide sequence from position 496 to position 498 is not AAT; if the nucleotide sequence from position 499 to position 501 is AAA then the nucleotide sequence from position 502 to position 504 is not TCA or AGC; if the nucleotide sequence from position 508 to position 510 is GTA, then the nucleotide sequence from position 511 to 513 is not TTA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 514 to position 516 is AAT then the nucleotide sequence from position 517 to position 519 is not ACA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 517 to position 519 is ACC or ACG, then the nucleotide sequence from position 520 to position 522 is not CAA simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 523 to position 525 being TCN; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 523 to position 531 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 544 to position 546 is GAA then the nucleotide sequence from position 547 to position 549 is not TAT, simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 550 to position 552 being TTR; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 547 to position 552 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 559 to position 561 is GGA then the nucleotide sequence from position 562 to position 564 is not TTG simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 565 to 567 being CGN; if the nucleotide sequence from position 565 to position 567 is CGC then the nucleotide sequence from position 568 to position 570 is not AAT; the nucleotide sequence from position 568 to position 570 is not AAT; if the nucleotide sequence from position 574 to position 576 is TTC then the nucleotide sequence from position 577 to position 579 is not CAA simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 580 to position 582 being TTR; if the nucleotide sequence from position 577 to position 579 is CAA then the nucleotide sequence from position 580 to position 582 is not TTA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 583 to position 585 is AAT the nucleotide sequence from position 586 to 588 is not TGC; the nucleotide sequence from position 595 to position 597 is not AAA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 598 to position 600 is ATT then the nucleotide sequence from position 601 to position 603 is not AAT; the nucleotide sequence from position 598 to position 600 is not ATA; the nucleotide sequence from position 601 to position 603 is not AAT; if the nucleotide sequence from position 604 to position 606 is AAA then the nucleotide sequence from position 607 to position 609 is not AAT; the nucleotide sequence from position 607 to position 609 is not AAT; the nucleotide sequence from position 613 to position 615 is not CCA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 613 to position 615 is CCG, then the nucleotide sequence from position 616 to position 618 is not ATA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 616 to the nucleotide at position 618 is ATA, then the nucleotide sequence from position 619 to 621 is not ATA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 619 to position 621 is ATA, then the nucleotide sequence from position 622 to position 624 is not TAC; the nucleotide sequence from position 619 to position 621 is not ATT; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 640 to position 645 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 643 to position 645 is TTA then the nucleotide sequence from position 646 to position 648 is not ATA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 643 to position 645 is CTA then the nucleotide sequence from position 646 to position 648 is not ATA; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 655 to position 660 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 658 to 660 is TTA or CTA then the nucleotide sequence from position 661 to position 663 is not ATT or ATC; the nucleotide sequence from position 661 to position 663 is not ATA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 661 to position 663 is ATT then the nucleotide sequence from position 664 to position 666 is not AAA; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 670 to position 675 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 691 to position 693 is TAT then the nucleotide sequence from position 694 to position 696 is not AAA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 694 to position 696 is AAA then the nucleotide sequence from position 697 to position 699 is not TTG; if the nucleotide sequence from position 700 to position 702 is CCC then the nucleotide sequence from position 703 to position 705 is not AAT; if the nucleotide sequence from position 703 to position 705 is AAT then the nucleotide sequence from position 706 to position 708 is not ACA or ACT; if the nucleotide sequence from position 706 to position 708 is ACA then the nucleotide sequence from position 709 to 711 is not ATA simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 712 to position 714 being AGY; the nucleotide sequence does not comprise the codons TTA, CTA, ATA, GTA, TCG, CCG, ACG and GCG; said nucleotide sequence does not comprise a GC stretch consisting of 7 consecutive nucleotides selected from the group of G or C; and the nucleotide sequence does not comprise a AT stretch consisting of 5 consecutive nucleotides selected from the group of A or T.

A preferred group of synthetic nucleotide sequences is set forth in Table 2 and corresponds to an isolated synthetic DNA fragment is provided which comprises a nucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID No 3, wherein the codons are chosen among the choices provided in such a way as to obtain a nucleotide sequence with an overall GC content of about 50% to about 60%, preferably about 54%-55% provided that if the nucleotide sequence from position 121 to position 123 is GAG then the nucleotide sequence from position 124 to 126 is not CAA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 253 to position 255 is GAC then the nucleotide sequence from position 256 to 258 is not CAA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 277 to position 279 is CAT then the nucleotide sequence from position 280 to 282 is not AAA; if the nucleotide sequence from position 340 to position 342 is AAG then the nucleotide sequence from position 343 to position 345 is not CAT; if the nucleotide sequence from position 490 to position 492 is TCA then the nucleotide sequence from position 493 to position 495 is not ACC; if the nucleotide sequence from position 499 to position 501 is AAA then the nucleotide sequence from position 502 to 504 is not TCA or AGC; if the nucleotide sequence from position 517 to position 519 is ACC then the nucleotide sequence from position 520 to position 522 is not CAA simultaneous with the nucleotide sequence from position 523 to 525 being TCN; if the nucleotide sequence from position 661 to position 663 is ATT then the nucleotide sequence from position 664 to position 666 is not AAA; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 7 to position 15 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of seven contiguous nucleotides from the group of G or C; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 61 to position 69 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of seven contiguous nucleotides from the group of G or C; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 130 to position 138 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of seven contiguous nucleotides from the group of G or C; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 268 to position 279 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of seven contiguous nucleotides from the group of G or C; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 322 to position 333 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of seven contiguous nucleotides from the group of G or C; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 460 to position 468 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of seven contiguous nucleotides from the group of G or C; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 13 to position 27 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides from the group of A or T; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 37 to position 48 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides from the group of A or T; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 184 to position 192 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides from the group of A or T; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 214 to position 219 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides from the group of A or T; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 277 to position 285 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides from the group of A or T; and the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 388 to position 396 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides from the group of A or T; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 466 to position 474 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides from the group of A or T; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 484 to position 489 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides from the group of A or T; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 571 to position 576 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides from the group of A or T; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 598 to position 603 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides from the group of A or T; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 604 to position 609 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides from the group of A or T; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 613 to position 621 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides from the group of A or T; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 646 to position 651 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides from the group of A or T; the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 661 to position 666 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides from the group of A or T; and the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 706 to position 714 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides from the group of A or T.

The nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID No 4 is an example of such a synthetic nucleotide sequence encoding an I-SceI endonuclease which does no longer contain any of the nucleotide sequences or codons to be avoided. However, it will be clear that a person skilled in the art can readily obtain a similar sequence encoding I-SceI by replacing one or more (between two to twenty) of the nucleotides to be chosen for any of the alternatives provided in the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID 3 (excluding any of the forbidden combinations described in the preceding paragraph) and use it to obtain a similar effect.

For expression in plant cell, the synthetic DNA fragments encoding I-SceI may be operably linked to a plant expressible promoter in order to obtain a plant expressible chimeric gene.

A person skilled in the art will immediately recognize that for this aspect of the invention, it is not required that the repair DNA and/or the DSBI endonuclease encoding DNA are introduced into the plant cell by direct DNA transfer methods, but that the DNA may thus also be introduced into plant cells by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation methods as are available in the art.

In yet another aspect, the invention relates to a method for introducing a foreign DNA of interest into a preselected site of a genome of a plant cell comprising the steps of

(a) inducing a double stranded break at the preselected site in the genome of the cell;

(b) introducing the foreign DNA of interest into the plant cell;

characterized in that prior to step (a), the plant cells are incubated in a plant phenolic compound.

“Plant phenolic compounds” or “plant phenolics” suitable for the invention are those substituted phenolic molecules which are capable to induce a positive chemotactic response, particularly those who are capable to induce increased vir gene expression in a Ti-plasmid containing Agrobacterium sp., particularly a Ti-plasmid containing Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Methods to measure chemotactic response towards plant phenolic compounds have been described by Ashby et al. (1988 J. Bacteriol. 170: 4181-4187) and methods to measure induction of vir gene expression are also well known (Stachel et al., 1985 Nature 318: 624-629; Bolton et al. 1986 Science 232: 983-985). Preferred plant phenolic compounds are those found in wound exudates of plant cells. One of the best known plant phenolic compounds is acetosyringone, which is present in a number of wounded and intact cells of various plants, albeit it in different concentrations. However, acetosyringone (3,5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxyacetophenone) is not the only plant phenolic which can induce the expression of vir genes. Other examples are α-hydroxy-acetosyringone, sinapinic acid (3,5 dimethoxy-4-hydroxycinnamic acid), syringic acid (4-hydroxy-3,5 dimethoxybenzoic acid), ferulic acid (4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamic acid), catechol (1,2-dihydroxybenzene), p-hydroxybenzoic acid (4-hydroxybenzoic acid), β-resorcylic acid (2,4 dihydroxybenzoic acid), protocatechuic acid (3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid), pyrrogallic acid (2,3,4-trihydroxybenzoic acid), gallic acid (3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid) and vanillin (3-methoxy-4-hydroxybenzaldehyde). As used herein, the mentioned molecules are referred to as plant phenolic compounds. Plant phenolic compounds can be added to the plant culture medium either alone or in combination with other plant phenolic compounds. Although not intending to limit the invention to a particular mode of action, it is thought that the apparent stimulating effect of these plant phenolics on cell division (and thus also genome replication) may be enhancing targeted insertion of foreign DNA.

Plant cells are preferably incubated in plant phenolic compound for about one week, although it is expected incubation for about one or two days in or on a plant phenolic compound will be sufficient. Plant cells should be incubated for a time sufficient to stimulate cell division. According to Guivarc'h et al. (1993, Protoplasma 174: 10-18) such effect may already be obtained by incubation of plant cells for as little as 10 minutes.

The above mentioned improved methods for homologous recombination based targeted DNA insertion may also be applied to improve the quality of the transgenic plant cells and plants obtained by direct DNA transfer methods, particularly by microprojectile bombardment. It is well known in the art that introduction of DNA by microprojectile bombardment frequently leads to complex integration patterns of the introduced DNA (integration of multiple copies of the foreign DNA of interest, either complete or partial, generation of repeat structures). Nevertheless, some plant genotypes or varieties may be more amenable to transformation using microprojectile bombardment than to transformation using e.g. Agrobacterium tumefaciens. It would thus be advantageous if the quality of the transgenic plant cells or plants obtained through microprojectile bombardment could be improved, i.e. if the pattern of integration of the foreign DNA could be influenced to be simpler.

The above mentioned finding that introduction of foreign DNA through microprojectile bombardment in the presence of an induced double stranded DNA break in the nuclear genome, whereby the foreign DNA has homology to the sequences flanking the double stranded DNA break frequently (about 50% of the obtained events) leads to simple integration patterns (single copy insertion in a predictable way and no insertion of additional fragments of the foreign DNA) provides the basis for a method of simplifying the complexity of insertion of foreign DNA in the nuclear genome of plant cells.

Thus the invention also relates to a method of producing a transgenic plant by microprojectile bombardment comprising the steps of

(a) inducing a double stranded DNA break at a preselected site in the genome of a cell a plant, in accordance with the methods described elsewhere in this document or available in the art; and

(b) introducing the foreign DNA of interest into the plant cell by microprojectile bombardment wherein said foreign DNA of interest is flanked by two DNA regions having at least 80% sequence identity to the DNA regions flanking the preselected site in the genome of the plant.

A significant portion of the transgenic plant population thus obtained will have a simple integration pattern of the foreign DNA in the genome of the plant cells, more particularly a significant portion of the transgenic plants will only have a one copy insertion of the foreign DNA, exactly between the two DNA regions flanking the preselected site in the genome of the plant. This portion is higher than the population of transgenic plants with simple integration patterns, when the plants are obtained by simple microprojectile bombardment without inducing a double stranded DNA break, and without providing the foreign DNA with homology to the genomic regions flanking the preselected site.

In a convenient embodiment of the invention, the target plant cell comprises in its genome a marker gene, flanked by two recognition sites for a rare-cleaving double stranded DNA break inducing endonuclease, one on each side. This marker DNA may be introduced in the genome of the plant cell of interest using any method of transformation, or may have been introduced into the genome of a plant cell of another plant line or variety (such a as a plant line or variety easy amenable to transformation) and introduced into the plant cell of interest by classical breeding techniques. Preferably, the population of transgenic plants or plant cells comprising a marker gene flanked by two recognition sites for a rare-cleaving double stranded break inducing endonuclease has been analysed for the expression pattern of the marker gene (such as high expression, temporally or spatially regulated expression) and the plant lines with the desired expression pattern identified. Production of a transgenic plant by microprojectile bombardment comprising the steps of

(a) inducing a double stranded DNA break at a preselected site in the genome of a cell of a plant, in accordance with the methods described elsewhere in this document or available in the art; and

(b) introducing the foreign DNA of interest into the plant cell by microprojectile bombardment wherein said foreign DNA of interest is flanked by two DNA regions having at least 80% sequence identity to the DNA regions flanking the preselected site in the genome of the plant;

will lead to transgenic plant cells and plants wherein the marker gene has been replaced by the foreign DNA of interest.

The marker gene may be any selectable or a screenable plant-expressible marker gene, which is preferably a conventional chimeric marker gene. The chimeric marker gene can comprise a marker DNA that is under the control of, and operatively linked at its 5′ end to, a promoter, preferably a constitutive plant-expressible promoter, such as a CaMV 35S promoter, or a light inducible promoter such as the promoter of the gene encoding the small subunit of Rubisco; and operatively linked at its 3′ end to suitable plant transcription termination and polyadenylation signals. The marker DNA preferably encodes an RNA, protein or polypeptide which, when expressed in the cells of a plant, allows such cells to be readily separated from those cells in which the marker DNA is not expressed. The choice of the marker DNA is not critical, and any suitable marker DNA can be selected in a well known manner. For example, a marker DNA can encode a protein that provides a distinguishable color to the transformed plant cell, such as the A1 gene (Meyer et al. (1987), Nature 330: 677), can encode a fluorescent protein [Chalfie et al, Science 263: 802-805 (1994); Crameri et al, Nature Biotechnology 14: 315-319 (1996)], can encode a protein that provides herbicide resistance to the transformed plant cell, such as the bar gene, encoding PAT which provides resistance to phosphinothricin (EP 0242246), or can encode a protein that provides antibiotic resistance to the transformed cells, such as the aac(6′) gene, encoding GAT which provides resistance to gentamycin (WO 94/01560). Such selectable marker gene generally encodes a protein that confers to the cell resistance to an antibiotic or other chemical compound that is normally toxic for the cells. In plants the selectable marker gene may thus also encode a protein that confers resistance to a herbicide, such as a herbicide comprising a glutamine synthetase inhibitor (e.g. phosphinothricin) as an active ingredient. An example of such genes are genes encoding phosphinothricin acetyl transferase such as the sfr or sfrv genes (EP 242236; EP 242246; De Block et al., 1987 EMBO J. 6: 2513-2518).

The introduced repair DNA may further comprise a marker gene that allows to better discriminate between integration by homologous recombination at the preselected site and the integration elsewhere in the genome. Such marker genes are available in the art and include marker genes whereby the absence of the marker gene can be positively selected for under selective conditions (e.g. codA, cytosine deaminase from E. coli conferring sensitivity to 5-fluoro cytosine, Perera et al. 1993 Plant Mol. Biol. 23, 793; Stougaard (1993) Plant J: 755). The repair DNA needs to comprise the marker gene in such a way that integration of the repair DNA into the nuclear genome in a random way results in the presence of the marker gene whereas the integration of the repair DNA by homologous recombination results in the absence of the marker gene.

It will be immediately clear that the same results can also be obtained using only one preselected site at which to induce the double stranded break, which is located in or near a marker gene. The flanking regions of homology are then preferably chosen in such way as to either inactivate the marker gene, or delete the marker gene and substitute for the foreign DNA to be inserted.

It will be appreciated that the means and methods of the invention are particularly useful for corn, but may also be used in other plants with similar effects, particularly in cereal plants including wheat, oat, barley, rye, rice, turfgrass, sorghum, millet or sugarcane plants. The methods of the invention can also be applied to any plant including but not limited to cotton, tobacco, canola, oilseed rape, soybean, vegetables, potatoes, Lemna spp., Nicotiana spp., Arabidopsis, alfalfa, barley, bean, corn, cotton, flax, pea, rape, rice, rye, safflower, sorghum, soybean, sunflower, tobacco, wheat, asparagus, beet, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, onion, oilseed rape, pepper, potato, pumpkin, radish, spinach, squash, tomato, zucchini, almond, apple, apricot, banana, blackberry, blueberry, cacao, cherry, coconut, cranberry, date, grape, grapefruit, guava, kiwi, lemon, lime, mango, melon, nectarine, orange, papaya, passion fruit, peach, peanut, pear, pineapple, pistachio, plum, raspberry, strawberry, tangerine, walnut and watermelon.

It is also an object of the invention to provide plant cells and plants comprising foreign DNA molecules inserted at preselected sites, according to the methods of the invention. Gametes, seeds, embryos, either zygotic or somatic, progeny or hybrids of plants comprising the targeted DNA insertion events, which are produced by traditional breeding methods are also included within the scope of the present invention.

The plants obtained by the methods described herein may be further crossed by traditional breeding techniques with other plants to obtain progeny plants comprising the targeted DNA insertion events obtained according to the present invention.

The following non-limiting Examples describe the design of a modified I-SceI encoding chimeric gene, and the use thereof to insert foreign DNA into a preselected site of the plant genome.

Unless stated otherwise in the Examples, all recombinant DNA techniques are carried out according to standard protocols as described in Sambrook et al. (1989) Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Second Edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, NY and in Volumes 1 and 2 of Ausubel et al. (1994) Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, Current Protocols, USA. Standard materials and methods for plant molecular work are described in Plant Molecular Biology Labfax (1993) by R. D. D. Croy, jointly published by BIOS Scientific Publications Ltd (UK) and Blackwell Scientific Publications, UK. Other references for standard molecular biology techniques include Sambrook and Russell (2001) Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Third Edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, NY, Volumes I and II of Brown (1998) Molecular Biology LabFax, Second Edition, Academic Press (UK). Standard materials and methods for polymerase chain reactions can be found in Dieffenbach and Dveksler (1995) PCR Primer: A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, and in McPherson at al. (2000) PCR—Basics: From Background to Bench, First Edition, Springer Verlag, Germany.

Throughout the description and Examples, reference is made to the following sequences:

SEQ ID No 1: amino acid sequence of a chimeric I-SceI comprising a nuclear localization signal linked to a I-SceI protein lacking the 4 amino-terminal amino acids.

SEQ ID No 2: nucleotide sequence of I-SceI coding region (UIPAC code).

SEQ ID No 3: nucleotide sequence of synthetic I-SceI coding region (UIPAC code).

SEQ ID No 4: nucleotide sequence of synthetic I-SceI coding region.

SEQ ID No 5: nucleotide sequence of the T-DNA of pTTAM78 (target locus).

SEQ ID No 6: nucleotide sequence of the T-DNA of pTTA82 (repair DNA).

SEQ ID No 7: nucleotide sequence of pCV78.

TABLE 1 (corresponding to SEQ ID 2) Tri- Possible UIPAC nucleotide AA trinucleotides code PROVISIO R1 M ATG ATG R2 A GCA GCC GCN GCG GCT R3 K AAA AAG AAR R4 P CCA CCC CCN CCG CCT R5 P CCA CCC CCN CCG CCT R6 K AAA AAG AAR R7 K AAA AAG AAR R8 K AAA AAG AAR R9 R AGA AGG AGR or CGA CGC CGN CGG CGT R10 K AAA AAG AAR NOT AAG R11 V GTA GTC GTN GTG GTT R12 N AAC AAT AAY IF R12 AAT NOT (R13 ATT OR R13 ATA). IF R12 AAC NOT (R13 ATT AND R14 AAA) IF R12 AAC NOT R13 ATA R13 I ATA ATC ATH IF R13 ATT NOT R14 ATT AAA IF R13 ATA NOT R14 AAA R14 K AAA AAG AAR R15 K AAA AAG AAR R16 N AAC AAT AAY R17 Q CAA CAG CAR NOT CAA R18 V GTA GTC GTN NOT GTA GTG GTT R19 M ATG ATG R20 N AAC AAT AAY AVOID ATTTA R21 L TTA TTG TTR or CTA CTC CTN CTG CTT R22 G GGA GGC GGN GGG GGT R23 P CCA CCC CCN IF R23 CCC NOT R24 CCG CCT AAT R24 N AAC AAT AAY R25 S AGC AGT AGY or TCA TCC TCN TCG TCT R26 K AAA AAG AAR IF R26 AAA NOT (R27 TTG AND R28 CTN) R27 L TTA TTG TTR or IF R27 (TTA OR CTA) CTA CTC CTN NOT R28 TTA CTG CTT R28 L TTA TTG TTR or CTA CTC CTN CTG CTT R29 K AAA AAG AAR R30 E GAA GAG GAR NOT GAA R31 Y TAC TAT TAY IF R31 TAT NOT R32 AAA R32 K AAA AAG AAR R33 S AGC AGT AGY or IF R33 (TCC OR TCG OR TCA TCC TCN AGC) NOT (R34 TCG TCT CAA AND R35 TTR) R34 Q CAA CAG CAR IF R34 CAA NOT R35 TTA R35 L TTA TTG TTR or CTA CTC CTN CTG CTT R36 I ATA ATC ATH ATT R37 E GAA GAG GAR IF R37 GAA NOT R38 TTA R38 L TTA TTG TTR or CTA CTC CTN CTG CTT R39 N AAC AAT AAY IF R39 AAT NOT R40 (ATT OR ATA) R40 I ATA ATC ATH ATT R41 E GAA GAG GAR IF R41 GAG NOT R42 CAA R42 Q CAA CAG CAR R43 F TTC TTT TTY R44 E GAA GAG GAR R45 A GCA GCC GCN NOT GCA GCG GCT R46 G GGA GGC GGN GGG GGT R47 I ATA ATC ATH NOT ATT ATT R48 G GGA GGC GGN IF R48 GGA NOT R49 GGG GGT TTA R49 L TTA TTG TTR or IF R49 TTA NOT (R50 CTA CTC CTN ATA AND R51 TTR) CTG CTT IF R49 CTA NOT (R50 ATA AND R51 TTR) R50 I ATA ATC ATH IF R50 ATA NOT R51 ATT (CTA OR TTG) R51 L TTA TTG TTR or CTA CTC CTN CTG CTT R52 G GGA GGC GGN GGG GGT R53 D GAC GAT GAY R54 A GCA GCC GCN IF R54 GCA NOT R55 GCG GCT TAC R55 Y TAC TAT TAY IF R55 TAT NOT (R56 ATA AND R57 AGR) R56 I ATA ATC ATH ATT R57 R AGA AGG AGR or CGA CGC CGN CGG CGT R58 S AGC AGT AGY or AVOID GCAGG TCA TCC TCN TCG TCT R59 R AGA AGG AGR or CGA CGC CGN CGG CGT R60 D GAC GAT GAY R61 E GAA GAG GAR AVOID AAGGT R62 G GGA GGC GGN GGG GGT R63 K AAA AAG AAR R64 T ACA ACC ACN ACG ACT R65 Y TAC TAT TAY IF R65 TAT NOT R66 TGC R66 C TGC TGT TGY R67 M ATG ATG R68 Q CAA CAG CAR NOT CAA R69 F TTC TTT TTY R70 E GAA GAG GAR R71 W TGG TGG R72 K AAA AAG AAR R73 N AAC AAT AAY NOT AAT R74 K AAA AAG AAR IF R74 AAA NOT R75 GCA R75 A GCA GCC GCN IF R75 GCA NOT R76 GCG GCT TAC R76 Y TAC TAT TAY R77 M ATG ATG R78 D GAC GAT GAY R79 H CAC CAT CAY R80 V GTA GTC GTN GTG GTT R81 C TGC TGT TGY R82 L TTA TTG TTR or CTA CTC CTN CTG CTT R83 L TTA TTG TTR or CTA CTC CTN CTG CTT R84 Y TAC TAT TAY R85 D GAC GAT GAY IF R85 GAC NOT R86 CAA R86 Q CAA CAG CAR R87 W TGG TGG R88 V GTA GTC GTN GTG GTT R89 L TTA TTG TTR or CTA CTC CTN CTG CTT R90 S AGC AGT AGY or TCA TCC TCN TCG TCT R91 P CCA CCC CCN CCG CCT R92 P CCA CCC CCN CCG CCT R93 H CAC CAT CAY IF R93 CAT NOT R94 AAA R94 K AAA AAG AAR R95 K AAA AAG AAR R96 E GAA GAG GAR R97 R AGA AGG AGR or CGA CGC CGN CGG CGT R98 V GTA GTC GTN GTG GTT R99 N AAC AAT AAY R100 H CAC CAT CAY AVOID ATTTA R101 L TTA TTG TTR or CTA CTC CTN CTG CTT R102 G GGA GGC GGN IF R102 GGC NOT R103 GGG GGT AAT R103 N AAC AAT AAY AVOID ATTTA R104 L TTA TTG TTR or CTA CTC CTN CTG CTT R105 V GTA GTC GTN GTG GTT R106 I ATA ATC ATH ATT R107 T ACA ACC ACN ACG ACT R108 W TGG TGG R109 G GGA GGC GGN GGG GGT R110 A GCA GCC GCN GCG GCT R111 Q CAA CAG CAR R112 T ACA ACC ACN AVOID ATTTA ACG ACT R113 F TTC TTT TTY R114 K AAA AAG AAR IF R114 AAG NOT R115 CAT R115 H CAC CAT CAY R116 Q CAA CAG CAR IF R116 CAA NOT R117 GCA R117 A GCA GCC GCN AVOID ATTTA GCG GCT R118 F TTC TTT TTY R119 N AAC AAT AAY NOT AAT R120 K AAA AAG AAR IF R120 AAA NOT R121 TTG R121 L TTA TTG TTR or CTA CTC CTN CTG CTT R122 A GCA GCC GCN IF R122 GCC NOT R123 GCG GCT AAT R123 N AAC AAT AAY AVOID ATTTA R124 L TTA TTG TTR or CTA CTC CTN CTG CTT R125 F TTC TTT TTY R126 I ATA ATC ATH ATT R127 V GTA GTC GTN GTG GTT R128 N AAC AAT AAY IF R128 AAT NOT R129 AAT R129 N AAC AAT AAY NOT AAT R130 K AAA AAG AAR R131 K AAA AAG AAR R132 T ACA ACC ACN ACG ACT R133 I ATA ATC ATH ATT R134 P CCA CCC CCN IF R134 CCC NOT R135 CCG CCT AAT R135 N AAC AAT AAY IF R135 AAT NOT R136 AAT R136 N AAC AAT AAY AVOID ATTTA R137 L TTA TTG TTR or CTA CTC CTN CTG CTT R138 V GTA GTC GTN GTG GTT R139 E GAA GAG GAR R140 N AAC AAT AAY R141 Y TAC TAT TAY AVOID ATTTA R142 L TTA TTG TTR or CTA CTC CTN CTG CTT R143 T ACA ACC ACN ACG ACT R144 P CCA CCC CCN NOT CCA CCG CCT R145 M ATG ATG R146 S AGC AGT AGY or IF R146 TCA NOT R147 TCA TCC TCN TTG TCG TCT R147 L TTA TTG TTR or CTA CTC CTN CTG CTT R148 A GCA GCC GCN GCG GCT R149 Y TAC TAT TAY NOT TAT R150 W TGG TGG R151 F TTC TTT TTY R152 M ATG ATG R153 D GAC GAT GAY R154 D GAC GAT GAY R155 G GGA GGC GGN GGG GGT R156 G GGA GGC GGN GGG GGT R157 K AAA AAG AAR R158 W TGG TGG R159 D GAC GAT GAY R160 Y TAC TAT TAY R161 N AAC AAT AAY NOT AAT R162 K AAA AAG AAR IF R162 AAA NOT (R163 AAT AND R164 AGY) R163 N AAC AAT AAY R164 S AGC AGT AGY or IF R164 TCA NOT (R165 TCA TCC TCN ACC AND R166 AAY) TCG TCT R165 T ACA ACC ACN IF R165 ACC NOT R166 ACG ACT AAT R166 N AAC AAT AAY NOT AAT R167 K AAA AAG AAR IF R167 AAA R168 NOT TCA OR R168 NOT AGC R168 S AGC AGT AGY or TCA TCC TCN TCG TCT R169 I ATA ATC ATH ATT R170 V GTA GTC GTN IF R170 GTA NOT GTG GTT R171TTA R171 L TTA TTG TTR or CTA CTC CTN CTG CTT R172 N AAC AAT AAY IF R172 AAT NOT R173 ACA R173 T ACA ACC ACN IF R173 (ACC OR ACG) ACG ACT NOT (R174 CAA AND R175 TCN) R174 Q CAA CAG CAR R175 S AGC AGT AGY or AVOID ATTTA TCA TCC TCN TCG TCT R176 F TTC TTT TTY R177 T ACA ACC ACN ACG ACT R178 F TTC TTT TTY R179 E GAA GAG GAR R180 E GAA GAG GAR R181 V GTA GTC GTN GTG GTT R182 E GAA GAG GAR IF R182 GAA NOT (R183 TAT AND R184 TTR) R183 Y TAC TAT TAY AVOID ATTTA R184 L TTA TTG TTR or CTA CTC CTN CTG CTT R185 V GTA GTC GTN GTG GTT R186 K AAA AAG AAR R187 G GGA GGC GGN IF R187 GGA NOT (R188 GGG GGT TTG AND R189 CGN) R188 L TTA TTG TTR or CTA CTC CTN CTG CTT R189 R AGA AGG AGR or IF R189 CGC NOT R190 CGA CGC CGN AAT CGG CGT R190 N AAC AAT AAY NOT AAT R191 K AAA AAG AAR R192 F TTC TTT TTY IF R192 TTC NOT (R193 CAA AND R194 TTR) R193 Q CAA CAG CAR IF R193 CAA NOT R194 TTA R194 L TTA TTG TTR or CTA CTC CTN CTG CTT R195 N AAC AAT AAY IF R195 AAT NOT R196 TGC R196 C TGC TGT TGY R197 Y TAC TAT TAY R198 V GTA GTC GTN GTG GTT R199 K AAA AAG AAR NOT AAA R200 I ATA ATC ATH IF R200 ATT NOT R201 ATT AAT NOT ATA R201 N AAC AAT AAY NOT AAT R202 K AAA AAG AAR IF R202 AAA NOT R203 AAT R203 N AAC AAT AAY NOT AAT R204 K AAA AAG AAR R205 P CCA CCC CCN NOT CCA CCG CCT IF R205 CCG NOT R206 ATA R206 I ATA ATC ATH IF R206 ATA NOT R207 ATT ATA R207 I ATA ATC ATH IF R207 ATA NOT R208 ATT TAC NOT ATT R208 Y TAC TAT TAY R209 I ATA ATC ATH ATT R210 D GAC GAT GAY R211 S AGC AGT AGY or TCA TCC TCN TCG TCT R212 M ATG ATG R213 S AGC AGT AGY or TCA TCC TCN TCG TCT R214 Y TAC TAT TAY AVOID ATTTA R215 L TTA TTG TTR or IF R215 (TTA OR CTA) CTA CTC CTN NOT R216 ATA CTG CTT R216 I ATA ATC ATH ATT R217 F TTC TTT TTY R218 Y TAC TAT TAY R219 N AAC AAT AAY AVOID ATTTA R220 L TTA TTG TTR or IF R220 (TTA OR CTA) CTA CTC CTN NOT R221 ATT CTG CTT IF R220 (TTA OR CTA) NOT R221 ATC R221 I ATA ATC ATH IF R221 ATT NOT R222 ATT AAA NOT ATA R222 K AAA AAG AAR R223 P CCA CCC CCN CCG CCT R224 Y TAC TAT TAY AVOID ATTTA R225 L TTA TTG TTR or CTA CTC CTN CTG CTT R226 I ATA ATC ATH ATT R227 P CCA CCC CCN CCG CCT R228 Q CAA CAG CAR R229 M ATG ATG R230 M ATG ATG R231 Y TAC TAT TAY IF R231 TAT NOT R232 AAA R232 K AAA AAG AAR IF R232 AAA NOT R233 TTG R233 L TTA TTG TTR or CTA CTC CTN CTG CTT R234 P CCA CCC CCN IF 234 CCC NOT R235 CCG CCT AAT R235 N AAC AAT AAY IF R235 AAT NOT R236 ACA IF R235 AAT NOT R236 ACT R236 T ACA ACC ACN IF R236 ACA NOT (R237 ACG ACT ATA AND R238 AGY) R237 I ATA ATC ATH ATT R238 S AGC AGT AGY or TCA TCC TCN TCG TCT R239 S AGC AGT AGY or TCA TCC TCN TCG TCT R240 E GAA GAG GAR R241 T ACA ACC ACN ACG ACT R242 F TTC TTT TTY R243 L TTA TTG TTR or CTA CTC CTN CTG CTT R244 K AAA AAG AAR

TABLE 2 (corresponding to SEQ ID No 3) Exemplified I-SceI Trinucleotide AA Choices UIPAC PROVISIO (SEQ ID No 4) R1 M ATG ATG ATG R2 A GCC GCT GCY GCC R3 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R4 P CCA CCC CCT CCH CCT R5 P CCA CCC CCT CCH CCC R6 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R7 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R8 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R9 R AGA CGC CGG AGA or CGC CGS R10 K AAA AAA AAA R11 V GTC GTG GTS GTG R12 N AAC AAC AAC R13 I ATC ATT ATY ATC R14 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R15 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R16 N AAC AAC AAC R17 Q CAG CAG CAG R18 V GTC GTG GTS GTG R19 M ATG ATG ATG R20 N AAC AAC AAC R21 L CTC CTG CTS CTG R22 G GGC GGA GGM GGA R23 P CCA CCC CCT CCH CCT R24 N AAC AAC AAC R25 S AGC TCA TCC AGC or AGC TCM R26 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R27 L CTC CTG CTS CTC R28 L CTC CTG CTS CTG R29 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R30 E GAG GAG GAG R31 Y TAC TAC TAC R32 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R33 S AGC TCA TCC AGC or AGC TCM R34 Q CAA CAG CAR CAG R35 L CTC CTG CTS CTG R36 I ATC ATT ATY ATC R37 E GAA GAG GAR GAA R38 L CTC CTG CTS CTG R39 N AAC AAC AAC R40 I ATC ATT ATY ATC R41 E GAA GAG GAR IF R41 GAG NOT R42 GAG CAA R42 Q CAA CAG CAR CAG R43 F TTC TTC TTC R44 E GAA GAG GAR GAA R45 A GCC GCT GCY GCT R46 G GGC GGA GGM GGC R47 I ATC ATC ATC R48 G GGC GGA GGM GGC R49 L CTC CTG CTS CTG R50 I ATC ATT ATY ATC R51 L CTC CTG CTS CTG R52 G GGC GGA GGM GGC R53 D GAC GAT GAY GAT R54 A GCC GCT GCY GCC R55 Y TAC TAC TAC R56 I ATC ATT ATY ATC R57 R AGA CGC CGG AGA or AGA CGS R58 S AGC TCA TCC AGC or TCC TCM R59 R AGA CGC CGG AGA or CGG CGS R60 D GAC GAT GAY GAC R61 E GAA GAG GAR GAA R62 G GGC GGA GGM GGC R63 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R64 T ACC ACT ACY ACC R65 Y TAC TAC TAC R66 C TGC TGT TGY TGC R67 M ATG ATG ATG R68 Q CAG CAG CAG R69 F TTC TTC TTC R70 E GAA GAG GAR GAG R71 W TGG TGG TGG R72 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R73 N AAC AAC AAC R74 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R75 A GCC GCT GCY GCC R76 Y TAC TAC TAC R77 M ATG ATG ATG R78 D GAC GAT GAY GAC R79 H CAC CAT CAY CAC R80 V GTC GTG GTS GTG R81 C TGC TGT TGY TGT R82 L CTC CTG CTS CTG R83 L CTC CTG CTS CTG R84 Y TAC TAC TAC R85 D GAC GAT GAY IF R85 GAC NOT R86 GAC CAA R86 Q CAA CAG CAR CAG R87 W TGG TGG TGG R88 V GTC GTG GTS GTC R89 L CTC CTG CTS CTG R90 S AGC TCA TCC AGC or AGC TCM R91 P CCA CCC CCT CCH CCT R92 P CCA CCC CCT CCH CCT R93 H CAC CAT CAY IF R93 CAT NOT R94 CAC AAA R94 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R95 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R96 E GAA GAG GAR GAG R97 R AGA CGC CGG AGA or CGC CGS R98 V GTC GTG GTS GTG R99 N AAC AAC AAC R100 H CAC CAT CAY CAT R101 L CTC CTG CTS CTG R102 G GGC GGA GGM GGC R103 N AAC AAC AAC R104 L CTC CTG CTS CTC R105 V GTC GTG GTS GTG R106 I ATC ATT ATY ATC R107 T ACC ACT ACY ACC R108 W TGG TGG TGG R109 G GGC GGA GGM GGA R110 A GCC GCT GCY GCC R111 Q CAA CAG CAR CAG R112 T ACC ACT ACY ACC R113 F TTC TTC TTC R114 K AAA AAG AAR IF R114 AAG NOT R115 AAG CAT R115 H CAC CAT CAY CAC R116 Q CAA CAG CAR CAG R117 A GCC GCT GCY GCC R118 F TTC TTC TTC R119 N AAC AAC AAC R120 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R121 L CTC CTG CTS CTG R122 A GCC GCT GCS GCC R123 N AAC AAC AAC R124 L CTC CTG CTS CTG R125 F TTC TTC TTC R126 I ATC ATT ATY ATC R127 V GTC GTG CTS GTG R128 N AAC AAC AAC R129 N AAC AAC AAC R130 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R131 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R132 T ACC ACT ACY ACC R133 I ATC ATT ATY ATC R134 P CCA CCC CCT CCH CCC R135 N AAC AAC AAC R136 N AAC AAC AAC R137 L CTC CTG CTS CTC R138 V GTC GTG GTS GTG R139 E GAA GAG GAR GAG R140 N AAC AAC AAC R141 Y TAC TAC TAC R142 L CTC CTG CTS CTC R143 T ACC ACT ACY ACT R144 P CCC CCT CCY CCC R145 M ATG ATG ATG R146 S AGC TCA TCC AGC or AGC TCM R147 L CTC CTG CTS CTG R148 A GCC GCT GCY GCC R149 Y TAC TAC TAC R150 W TGG TGG TGG R151 F TTC TTC TTC R152 M ATG ATG ATG R153 D GAC GAT GAY GAC R154 D GAC GAT GAY GAC R155 G GGC GGA GGM GGA R156 G GGC GGA GGM GGC R157 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R158 W TGG TGG TGG R159 D GAC GAT GAY GAC R160 Y TAC TAC TAC R161 N AAC AAC AAC R162 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R163 N AAC AAC AAC R164 S AGC TCA TCC AGC or IF R164 TCA NOT R165 AGC TCM ACC R165 T ACC ACT ACY ACC R166 N AAC AAC AAC R167 K AAA AAG AAR IF R167 AAA R168 NOT AAG TCA OR R168 NOT AGC R168 S AGC TCA TCC AGC or TCA TCM R169 I ATC ATT ATY ATT R170 V GTC GTG GTS GTG R171 L CTC CTG CTS CTG R172 N AAC AAC AAC R173 T ACC ACT ACY IF R173 ACC NOT (R174 ACC CAA AND R175 TCN) R174 Q CAA CAG CAR CAA R175 S AGC TCA TCC AGC or AGC TCM R176 F TTC TTC TTC R177 T ACC ACT ACY ACC R178 F TTC TTC TTC R179 E GAA GAG GAR GAA R180 E GAA GAG GAR GAA R181 V GTC GTG GTS GTG R182 E GAA GAG GAR GAG R183 Y TAC TAC TAC R184 L CTC CTG CTS CTC R185 V GTC GTG GTS GTC R186 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R187 G GGC GGA GGM GGC R188 L CTC CTG CTS CTG R189 R AGA CGC CGG AGA or CGC CGS R190 N AAC AAC AAC R191 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R192 F TTC TTC TTC R193 Q CAA CAG CAR CAG R194 L CTC CTG CTS CTG R195 N AAC AAC AAC R196 C TGC TGT TGY TGC R197 Y TAC TAC TAC R198 V GTC GTG GTS GTG R199 K AAG AAG AAG R200 I ATC ATT ATY ATC R201 N AAC AAC AAC R202 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R203 N AAC AAC AAC R204 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R205 P CCC CCT CCY CCT R206 I ATC ATT ATY ATC R207 I ATC ATC ATC R208 Y TAC TAC TAC R209 I ATC ATT ATY ATC R210 D GAC GAT GAY GAC R211 S AGC TCA TCC AGC or AGC TCM R212 M ATG ATG ATG R213 S AGC TCA TCC AGC or AGC TCM R214 Y TAC TAC TAC R215 L CTC CTG CTS CTG R216 I ATC ATT ATY ATC R217 F TTC TTC TTC R218 Y TAC TAC TAC R219 N AAC AAC AAC R220 L CTC CTG CTS CTG R221 I ATC ATT ATY IF R221 ATT NOT R222 ATC AAA R222 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R223 P CCA CCC CCT CCH CCA R224 Y TAC TAC TAC R225 L CTC CTG CTS CTG R226 I ATC ATT ATY ATC R227 P CCA CCC CCT CCH CCT R228 Q CAA CAG CAR CAG R229 M ATG ATG ATG R230 M ATG ATG ATG R231 Y TAC TAC TAC R232 K AAA AAG AAR AAG R233 L CTC CTG CTS CTG R234 P CCA CCC CCT CCH CCC R235 N AAC AAC AAC R236 T ACC ACT ACY ACC R237 I ATC ATT ATY ATC R238 S AGC TCA TCC AGC or AGC TCM R239 S AGC TCA TCC AGC or AGC TCM R240 E GAA GAG GAR GAG R241 T ACC ACT ACY ACC R242 F TTC TTC TTC R243 L CTC CTG CTS CTG R244 K AAA AAG AAR AAG

EXAMPLES Example I Design, Synthesis and Analysis of a Plant Expressible Chimeric Gene Encoding I-SceI

The coding region of I-SceI wherein the 4 aminoterminal amino acids have been replaced by a nuclear localization signal was optimized using the following process:

-   -   1. Change the codons to the most preferred codon usage for maize         without altering the amino acid sequence of I-SceI protein,         using the Synergy Geneoptimizer™;     -   2. Adjust the sequence to create or eliminate specific         restriction sites to exchange the synthetic I-SceI coding region         with the universal code I-SceI gene;     -   3. Eliminate all GC stretches longer than 6 bp and AT stretches         longer than 4 bp to avoid formation of secondary RNA structures         than can effect pre-mRNA splicing     -   4. Avoid CG and TA duplets in codon positions 2 and 3;     -   5. Avoid other regulatory elements such as possible premature         polyadenylation signals (GATAAT, TATAAA, AATATA, AATATT, GATAAA,         AATGAA, AATAAG, AATAAA, AATAAT, AACCAA, ATATAA, AATCAA, ATACTA,         ATAAAA, ATGAAA, AAGCAT, ATTAAT, ATACAT, AAAATA, ATTAAA, AATTAA,         AATACA and CATAAA), cryptic intron splice sites (AAGGTAAGT and         TGCAGG), ATTTA pentamers and CCAAT box sequences (CCAAT, ATTGG,         CGAAT and ATTGC);     -   6. Recheck if the adapted coding region fulfill all of the above         mentioned criteria.

A possible example of such a nucleotide sequence is represented in SEQ ID No 4. A synthetic DNA fragment having the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID No 4 was synthesized and operably linked to a CaMV35S promoter and a CaMV35S 3′ termination and polyadenylation signal (yielding plasmid pCV78; SEQ ID No 7).

The synthetic I-SceI coding region was also cloned into a bacterial expression vector (as a fusion protein allowing protein enrichment on amylose beads). The capacity of semi-purified I-SceI protein to cleave in vitro a plasmid containing an I-SceI recognition site was verified.

Example 2 Isolation of Maize Cell Lines Containing a Promoterless Bar Gene Preceded by an I-SceI Site

In order to develop an assay for double stranded DNA break induced homology-mediated recombination, maize cell suspensions were isolated that contained a promoterless bar gene preceded by an I-SceI recognition site integrated in the nuclear genome in single copy. Upon double stranded DNA break induction through delivery of an I-SceI endonuclease encoding plant expressible chimeric gene, and co-delivery of repair DNA comprising a CaMV 35S promoter operably linked to the 5′ end of the bar gene, the 35S promoter may be inserted through homology mediated targeted DNA insertion, resulting in a functional bar gene allowing resistance to phosphinothricin (PPT). The assay is schematically represented in FIG. 1.

The target locus was constructed by operably linking through conventional cloning techniques the following DNA regions

-   a) a 3′ end termination and polyadenylation signal from the nopaline     synthetase gene -   b) a promoter-less bar encoding DNA region -   c) a DNA region comprising an I-SceI recognition site -   d) a 3′ end termination and polyadenylation signal from A.     tumefaciens gene 7 (3′g7) -   e) a plant expressible neomycin resistance gene comprising a     nopaline synthetase promoter, a neomycine phosphotransferase gene,     and a 3′ ocs signal.

This DNA region was inserted in a T-DNA vector between the T-DNA borders. The T-DNA vector was designated pTTAM78 (for nucleotide sequence of the T-DNA see SEQ ID No 5)

The T-DNA vector was used directly to transform protoplasts of corn according to the methods described in EP 0 469 273, using a He89-derived corn cell suspension. The T-DNA vector was also introduced into Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58C1Rif(pEHA101) and the resulting Agrobacterium was used to transform an He89-derived cell line. A number of target lines were identified that contained a single copy of the target locus construct pTTAM78, such as T24 (obtained by protoplast transformation) and lines 14-1 and 1-20 (obtained by Agrobacterium mediated transformation)

Cell suspensions were established from these target lines in N6M cell suspension medium, and grown in the light on a shaker (120 rpm) at 25° C. Suspensions were subcultured every week.

Example 3 Homology Based Targeted Insertion

The repair DNA pTTA82 is a T-DNA vector containing between the T-DNA borders the following operably linked DNA regions:

-   a) a DNA region encoding only the aminoterminal part of the bar gene -   b) a DNA region comprising a partial I-SceI recognition site (13     nucleotides located at the 5′ end of the recognition site) -   c) a CaMV 35S promoter region -   d) a DNA region comprising a partial I-SceI recognition site (9     nucleotides located at the 3′ end of the recognition site) -   e) a 3′ end termination and polyadenylation signal from A.     tumefaciens gene 7 (3′g7) -   f) a chimeric plant expressible neomycine resistance gene -   g) a defective I-SceI endonuclease encoding gene under control of a     CaMV 35S promoter

The nucleotide sequence of the T-DNA of pTTA82 is represented in SEQ ID NO 6.

This repair DNA was co-delivered with pCV78 (see Example 1) by particle bombardment into suspension derived cells which were plated on filter paper as a thin layer. The filter paper was plated on Mahq1 VII substrate.

The DNA was bombarded into the cells using a PDS-1000/HE BIOLISTICS® particle delivery device. Microcarrier preparation and coating of DNA onto microcarriers was essentially as described by Sanford et al. 1992. Particle bombardment parameters were: target distance of 9 cm; bombardment pressure of 1350 psi, gap distance of ¼″ and macrocarrier flight distance of 11 cm. Immediately after bombardment the tissue was transferred onto non-selective Mhi1VII substrate. As a control for successful delivery of DNA by particle bombardment, the three target lines were also bombarded with microcarriers coated with plasmid DNA comprising a chimeric bar gene under the control of a CaMV35S promoter (pRVA52).

Four days after bombardment, the filters were transferred onto Mh1 VII substrate supplemented with 25 mg/L PPT or on Ahx1.5VIIino1000 substrate supplemented with 50 mg/L PPT.

Fourteen days later, the filters were transferred onto fresh Mh1 VII medium with 10 mg/L PPT for the target lines T24 and 14-1 and Mh1 VII substrate with 25 mg/L PPT for target line 1-20.

Two weeks later, potential targeted insertion events were scored based on their resistance to PPT. These PPT resistant events were also positive in the Liberty Link Corn Leaf/Seed test (Strategic Diagnostics Inc.).

Number of PPT resistant calli 38 days after bombardment:

pRVA52 pTTA82+pCV78 Tar- Total number Mean number Total number Mean number get of PPT^(R) of PPT^(R) of PPT^(R) of PPT^(R) line events events/petridish events events/petridish 1-20 75 25 115 7.6 14-1 37 12.3 38 2.2 24 40 13.3 2 0.13

The PPT resistant events were further subcultured on Mh1 VII substrate containing 10 mg/L PPT and callus material was used for molecular analysis. Twenty independent candidate TSI were analyzed by Southern analysis using the 35S promoter and the 3′ end termination and polyadenylation signal from the nopaline synthase gene as a probe. Based on the size of the expected fragment, all events appeared to be perfect targeted sequence insertion events. Moreover, further analysis of about half of the targeted sequence insertion events did not show additional non-targeted integration of either the repair DNA or the I-SceI encoding DNA.

Sequence analysis of DNA amplified from eight of the targeted insertion events demonstrated that these events were indeed perfect homologous recombination based TSI events.

Based on these data, the ratio of homologous recombination based DNA insertion versus the “normal” illegitimate recombination varies from about 30% for 1-20 to about 17% for 14-1 and to about 1% for 24.

When using vectors similar to the ones described in Puchta et al, 1996 (supra) delivered by electroporation to tobacco protoplasts in the presence of I-SceI induced double stranded DNA breaks, the ratio of homologous recombination based DNA insertion versus normal insertion was about 15%. However, only one of out of 33 characterized events was a homology-mediated targeted sequence insertion event whereby the homologous recombination was perfect at both sides of the double stranded break.

Using the vectors from Example 2, but with a “universal code I-SceI construct” comprising a nuclear localization signal, the ratio of HR based DNA insertion versus normal insertion varied between 0.032% and 16% for different target lines, both using electroporation or Agrobacterium mediated DNA delivery. The relative frequency of perfect targeted insertion events differed between the different target lines, and varied from 8 to 70% for electroporation mediated DNA delivery and between 73 to 90% for Agrobacterium mediated DNA delivery.

Example 4 Acetosyringone Pre-Incubation Improves the Frequency of Recovery of Targeted Insertion Events

One week before bombardment as described in Example 3, cell suspensions were either diluted in N6M medium or in LSIDhy1.5 medium supplemented with 200 μM acetosyringone. Otherwise, the method as described in Example 3 was employed. As can be seen from the results summarized in the following table, preincubation of the cells to be transformed with acetosyringone had a beneficial effect on the recovery of targeted PPT resistant insertion events.

Preincubation with acetosyringone No preincubation Tar- Total number Mean number Total number Mean number get of PPT^(R) of PPT^(R) of PPT^(R) of PPT^(R) line events events/petridish events events/petridish 1-20 89 7.6 26 3.7 14-1 32 3.6 6 0.75 24 0 0 2 0.3

Example 5 DSB-Mediated Targeted Sequence Insertion in Maize by Agrobacterium-Mediated Delivery of Repair DNA

To analyze DSB-mediated targeted sequence insertion in maize, whereby the repair DNA is delivered by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, T-DNA vectors were constructed similar to pTTA82 (see Example 3), wherein the defective I-SceI was replaced by the synthetic I-SceI encoding gene of Example 1. The T-DNA vector further contained a copy of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens virG and virC (pTCV83) or virG, virC and virB (pTCV87) outside the T-DNA borders. These T-DNA vectors were inserted into LBA4404, containing the helper Ti-plasmid pAL4404, yielding Agrobacterium strains A4995 and A 4996 respectively.

Suspension cultures of the target cell lines of Example 2, as well as other target cell lines obtained in a similar way as described in Example 2, were co-cultivated with the Agrobacterium strains, and plated thereafter on a number of plates. The number of platings was determined by the density of the cell suspension. As a control for the transformation efficiency, the cell suspension were co-cultivated in a parallel experiment with an Agrobacterium strain LBA4404 containing helper Ti-plasmid pAL4404 and a T-DNA vector with a chimeric phosphinothricin resistance gene (bar gene) under control of a CaMV 35S vector. The T-DNA vector further contained a copy of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens virG, virC and virB genes, outside the T-DNA border. The results of four different independent experiments are summarized in the tables below:

Agrobacterium experiment I Control A4495 Target N° of N° of N° of N° of line platings transformants platings⁽¹⁾ TSI events T24 26 10 32 0 T26 36 44 36 1 14-1 20 18 28 0 T1 F155 26 7 24 0

Agrobacterium experiment II Control A4495 Target N° of N° of N° of N° of line platings transformants platings⁽¹⁾ TSI events 1-20 18 ~200 27 11 T79 24 ~480 24 6 T66 26 73 31 0 T5 28 35 18 0 T1 F154 22 65 16 1

Agrobacterium experiment III Control A4496 Target N° of N° of N° of N° of line platings transformants platings⁽¹⁾ TSI events T24 50 ~2250 30 1 T26 44 ~220 32 1 14-1 20 ~1020 13 1 T1 F155 33 ~1870 32 0

Agrobacterium experiment IV A3970 A4496 Target N° of N° of N° of N° of line platings transformants platings⁽¹⁾ TSI events T1 F154 28 1 T5 12 ~600 28 1 T66 28 0 T79 24 0 1-20 18 ~400 40 9

Thus, it is clear that, while Agrobacterium-mediated repair DNA delivery is clearly feasible, the frequency of Targeted Sequence Insertion (TSI) events is lower in comparison with particle bombardment-mediated repair DNA delivery. Southern analysis performed on 23 putative TSI events showed that 20 TSI events are perfect, based on the size of the fragment. However, in contrast with the events obtained by microprojectile bombardment as in Example 3, only 6 events out of 20 did not contain additional inserts of the repair DNA, 9 events did contain 1 to 3 additional inserts of the repair DNA, and 5 events contained many additional inserts of the repair DNA.

Particle bombardment mediated delivery of repair DNA also results in better quality of DSB mediated TSI events compared to delivery of repair DNA by Agrobacterium. This is in contrast for particle bombardment mediated delivery of “normal transforming DNA” which is characterized by the lesser quality of the transformants (complex integration pattern) in comparison with Agrobacterium-mediated transformation.

This indicates that the quality of transformants obtained by particle bombardment or other direct DNA delivery methods can be improved by DSB mediated insertion of sequences. This result is also confirmed by the following experiment: upon DSB mediated targeted sequence insertion of a 35S promoter, in absence of flanking sequences with homology to the target locus in the repair DNA, we observed that upon electroporation-mediated delivery of repair DNA, only a minority of the TSI events did contain additional non-targeted insertions of 35S promoter (2 TSI events out of 16 analyzed TSI events show additional at random insertion(s) of the 35S promoter). In contrast random insertion of the 35S promoter was considerably higher in TSI events obtained by Agrobacterium mediated delivery of the 35S promoter (17 out 22 analyzed TSI events showed additional at random insertion(s) of the 35S promoter).

Example 6 Media Composition

Mahq1VII: N6 medium (Chu et al. 1975) supplemented with 100 mg/L casein hydrolysate, 6 mM L-proline, 0.5 g/L 2-(N-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid (MES), 0.2M mannitol, 0.2M sorbitol, 2% sucrose, 1 mg/L 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D), adjusted to pH5.8, solidified with 2.5 g/L Gelrite®.

Mhi1VII: N6 medium (Chu et al. 1975) supplemented with 0.5 g/L 2-(N-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid (MES), 0.2M mannitol, 2% sucrose, 1 mg/L 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D), adjusted to pH5.8 solidified with 2.5 g/L Gelrite®.

Mh1VII: idem to Mhi1 VII substrate but without 0.2 M mannitol.

Ahx1.5VIIino1000: MS salts, supplemented with 1000 mg/L myo-inositol, 0.1 mg/L thiamine-HCl, 0.5 mg/L nicotinic acid, 0.5 mg/L pyridoxine-HCl, 0.5 g/L MES, 30 g/L sucrose, 10 g/L glucose, 1.5 mg/L 2,4-D, adjusted to pH 5.8 solidified with 2.5 g/L Gelrite®.

LSIDhy1.5: MS salts supplemented with 0.5 mg/L nicotinic acid, 0.5 mg/L pyridoxine-HCl, 1 mg/L thiamine-HCl, 100 mg/L myo-inositol, 6 mM L-proline, 0.5 g/L MES, 20 g/L sucrose, 10 g/L glucose, 1.5 mg/L 2.4-D, adjusted to pH 5.2.

N6M: macro elements: 2830 mg/L KNO₃; 433 mg/L (NH₄)₂SO₄; 166 mg/L CaCl₂.2H₂O; 250 mg/L MgSO₄.7H₂O; 400 mg/L KH₂PO₄; 37.3 mg/L Na₂EDTA; 27.3 mg/L FeSO₄.7H₂O, MS micro elements, 500 mg/L Bactotrypton, 0.5 g/L MES, 1 mg/L thiamin-HCl, 0.5 mg/L nicotinic acid, 0.5 mg/L pyridoxin-HCl, 2 mg/L glycin, 100 mg/L myo-inositol, 3% sucrose, 0.5 mg/L 2.4-D, adjusted to pH5.8. 

1. An isolated DNA fragment comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:1, wherein the nucleotide sequence has a GC content of about 50% to about 60%, provided that i) said nucleotide sequence does not comprise a nucleotide sequence of GATAAT, TATAAA, AATATA, AATATT, GATAAA, AATGAA, AATAAG, AATAAA, AATAAT, AACCAA, ATATAA, AATCAA, ATACTA, ATAAAA, ATGAAA, AAGCAT, ATTAAT, ATACAT, AAAATA, ATTAAA, AATTAA, AATACA or CATAAA; ii) said nucleotide does not comprise a nucleotide sequence of CCAAT, ATTGG, GCAAT or ATTGC; iii) said nucleotide sequence does not comprise a sequence of ATTTA, AAGGT, AGGTA, GGTA or GCAGG; iv) said nucleotide sequence does not comprise a GC stretch consisting of 7 consecutive nucleotides of G or C; v) said nucleotide sequence does not comprise a AT stretch consisting of 5 consecutive nucleotides of A or T; and vi) said nucleotide sequence does not comprise the codons TTA, CTA, ATA, GTA, TCG, CCG, ACG or GCG.
 2. An isolated DNA fragment comprising the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, wherein the GC content of said nucleotide sequence is about 50 to about 60%, provided that i) said nucleotide sequence from position 28 to position 30 is not AAG; ii) if the nucleotide sequence from position 34 to position 36 is AAT then the nucleotide sequence from position 37 to position 39 is not ATT or ATA; iii) if the nucleotide sequence from position 34 to position 36 is AAC then the nucleotide sequence from position 37 to position 39 is not ATT simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 40 to position 42 being AAA; iv) if the nucleotide sequence from position 34 to position 36 is AAC then the nucleotide sequence from position 37 to position 39 is not ATA; v) if the nucleotide sequence from position 37 to position 39 is ATT or ATA then the nucleotide sequence from position 40 to 42 is not AAA; vi) the nucleotide sequence from position 49 to position 51 is not CAA; vii) the nucleotide sequence from position 52 to position 54 is not GTA; viii) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 58 to position 63 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; ix) if the nucleotide sequence from position 67 to position 69 is CCC then the nucleotide sequence from position 70 to position 72 is not AAT; x) if the nucleotide sequence from position 76 to position 78 is AAA then the nucleotide sequence from position 79 to position 81 is not TTG simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 82 to 84 being CTN; xi) if the nucleotide sequence from position 79 to position 81 is TTA or CTA then the nucleotide sequence from position 82 to position 84 is not TTA; xii) the nucleotide sequence from position 88 to position 90 is not GAA; xiii) if the nucleotide sequence from position 91 to position 93 is TAT, then the nucleotide sequence from position 94 to position 96 is not AAA; xiv) if the nucleotide sequence from position 97 to position 99 is TCC or TCG or AGC then the nucleotide sequence from position 100 to 102 is not CCA simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 103 to 105 being TTR; xv) if the nucleotide sequence from position 100 to 102 is CAA then the nucleotide sequence from position 103 to 105 is not TTA; xvi) if the nucleotide sequence from position 109 to position 111 is GAA then the nucleotide sequence from 112 to 114 is not TTA; xvii) if the nucleotide sequence from position 115 to 117 is AAT then the nucleotide sequence from position 118 to position 120 is not ATT or ATA; xviii) if the nucleotide sequence from position 121 to 123 is GAG then the nucleotide sequence from position 124 to position 126; xix) the nucleotide sequence from position 133 to 135 is not GCA; xx) the nucleotide sequence from position 139 to position 141 is not ATT; xxi) if the nucleotide sequence from position 142 to position 144 is GGA then the nucleotide sequence from position 145 to position 147 is not TTA; xxii) if the nucleotide sequence from position 145 to position 147 is TTA then the nucleotide sequence from position 148 to position 150 is not ATA simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 151 to 153 being TTR; xxiii) if the nucleotide sequence from position 145 to position 147 is CTA then the nucleotide sequence from position 148 to position 150 is not ATA simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 151 to 153 being TTR; xxiv) if the nucleotide sequence from position 148 to position 150 is ATA then the nucleotide sequence from position 151 to position 153 is not CTA or TTG; xxv) if the nucleotide sequence from position 160 to position 162 is GCA then the nucleotide sequence from position 163 to position 165 is not TAC; xxvi) if the nucleotide sequence from position 163 to position 165 is TAT then the nucleotide sequence from position 166 to position 168 is not ATA simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 169 to position 171 being AGR; xxvii) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 172 to position 177 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise GCAGG; xxviii) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 178 to position 186 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise AGGTA; xxix) if the nucleotide sequence from position 193 to position 195 is TAT, then the nucleotide sequence from position 196 to position 198 is not TGC; xxx) the nucleotide sequence from position 202 to position 204 is not CAA; xxxi) the nucleotide sequence from position 217 to position 219 is not AAT; xxxii) if the nucleotide sequence from position 220 to position 222 is AAA then the nucleotide sequence from position 223 to position 225 is not GCA; xxxiii) if the nucleotide sequence from position 223 to position 225 is GCA then the nucleotide sequence from position 226 to position 228 is not TAC; xxxiv) if the nucleotide sequence from position 253 to position 255 is GAC, then the nucleotide sequence from position 256 to position 258 is not CAA; xxxv) if the nucleotide sequence from position 277 to position 279 is CAT, then the nucleotide sequence from position 280 to position 282 is not AAA; xxxvi) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 298 to position 303 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; xxxvii) if the nucleotide sequence from position 304 to position 306 is GGC then the nucleotide sequence from position 307 to position 309 is not AAT; xxxvii) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 307 to position 312 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; xxxix) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 334 to position 342 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; xl) if the nucleotide sequence from position 340 to position 342 is AAG then the nucleotide sequence from position 343 to 345 is not CAT; xli) if the nucleotide position from position 346 to position 348 is CAA then the nucleotide sequence from position 349 to position 351 is not GCA; xlii) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 349 to position 357 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; xlii) the nucleotide sequence from position 355 to position 357 is not AAT; xliv) if the nucleotide sequence from position 358 to position 360 is AAA then the nucleotide sequence from position 361 to 363 is not TTG; xlv) if the nucleotide sequence from position 364 to position 366 is GCC then the nucleotide sequence from position 367 to position 369 is not AAT; xlvi) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 367 to position 378 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; xlvii) if the nucleotide sequence from position 382 to position 384 is AAT then the nucleotide sequence from position 385 to position 387 is not AAT; xlviii) the nucleotide sequence from position 385 to position 387 is not AAT; xlix) if the nucleotide sequence from position 400 to 402 is CCC, then the nucleotide sequence from position 403 to 405 is not AAT; l) if the nucleotide sequence from position 403 to 405 is AAT, then the nucleotide sequence from position 406 to 408 is not AAT; li) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 406 to position 411 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; lii) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 421 to position 426 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; liii) the nucleotide sequence from position 430 to position 432 is not CCA; liv) if the nucleotide sequence from position 436 to position 438 is TCA then the nucleotide sequence from position 439 to position 441 is not TTG; lv) the nucleotide sequence from position 445 to position 447 is not TAT; lvi) the nucleotide sequence from position 481 to 483 is not AAT; lvii) if the nucleotide sequence from position 484 to position 486 is AAA, then the nucleotide sequence from position 487 to position 489 is not AAT simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 490 to position 492 being AGY; lviii) if the nucleotide sequence from position 490 to position 492 is TCA, then the nucleotide sequence from position 493 to position 495 is not ACC simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 496 to 498 being AAY; lix) if the nucleotide sequence from position 493 to position 495 is ACC, then the nucleotide sequence from position 496 to 498 is not AAT; lx) the nucleotide sequence from position 496 to position 498 is not AAT; lxi) if the nucleotide sequence from position 499 to position 501 is AAA then the nucleotide sequence from position 502 to position 504 is not TCA or AGC; lxii) if the nucleotide sequence from position 508 to position 510 is GTA, then the nucleotide sequence from position 511 to 513 is not TTA; lxiii) if the nucleotide sequence from position 514 to position 516 is AAT then the nucleotide sequence from position 517 to position 519 is not ACA; lxiv) if the nucleotide sequence from position 517 to position 519 is ACC or ACG, then the nucleotide sequence from position 520 to position 522 is not CAA simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 523 to position 525 being TCN; lxv) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 523 to position 531 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; lxvi) if the nucleotide sequence from position 544 to position 546 is GAA then the nucleotide sequence from position 547 to position 549 is not TAT, simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 550 to position 552 being TTR; lxvii) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 547 to position 552 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; lxviii) if the nucleotide sequence from position 559 to position 561 is GGA then the nucleotide sequence from position 562 to position 564 is not TTG simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 565 to 567 being CGN; lxix) if the nucleotide sequence from position 565 to position 567 is CGC then the nucleotide sequence from position 568 to position 570 is not AAT; lxx) the nucleotide sequence from position 568 to position 570 is not AAT; lxxi) if the nucleotide sequence from position 574 to position 576 is TTC then the nucleotide sequence from position 577 to position 579 is not CAA simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 580 to position 582 being TTR; lxxii) if the nucleotide sequence from position 577 to position 579 is CAA then the nucleotide sequence from position 580 to position 582 is not TTA; lxxiii) if the nucleotide sequence from position 583 to position 585 is AAT the nucleotide sequence from position 586 to 588 is not TGC; lxxiv) the nucleotide sequence from position 595 to position 597 is not AAA; lxxv) if the nucleotide sequence from position 598 to position 600 is ATT then the nucleotide sequence from position 601 to position 603 is not AAT; lxxvi) the nucleotide sequence from position 598 to position 600 is not ATA; lxxvii) the nucleotide sequence from position 601 to position 603 is not AAT; lxxviii) if the nucleotide sequence from position 604 to position 606 is AAA then the nucleotide sequence from position 607 to position 609 is not AAT; lxxix) the nucleotide sequence from position 607 to position 609 is not AAT; lxxx) the nucleotide sequence from position 613 to position 615 is not CCA; lxxxi) if the nucleotide sequence from position 613 to position 615 is CCG, then the nucleotide sequence from position 616 to position 618 is not ATA; lxxxii) if the nucleotide sequence from position 616 to the nucleotide at position 618 is ATA, then the nucleotide sequence from position 619 to 621 is not ATA; lxxxiii) if the nucleotide sequence from position 619 to position 621 is ATA, then the nucleotide sequence from position 622 to position 624 is not TAC; lxxxiv) the nucleotide sequence from position 619 to position 621 is not ATT; lxxxv) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 640 to position 645 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; lxxxvi) if the nucleotide sequence from position 643 to position 645 is TTA then the nucleotide sequence from position 646 to position 648 is not ATA; lxxxvii) if the nucleotide sequence from position 643 to position 645 is CTA then the nucleotide sequence from position 646 to position 648 is not ATA; lxxxviii) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 655 to position 660 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; lxxxix) if the nucleotide sequence from position 658 to 660 is TTA or CTA then the nucleotide sequence from position 661 to position 663 is not ATT or ATC; xc) the nucleotide sequence from position 661 to position 663 is not ATA; xci) if the nucleotide sequence from position 661 to position 663 is ATT then the nucleotide sequence from position 664 to position 666 is not AAA; xcii) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 670 to position 675 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise ATTTA; xciii) if the nucleotide sequence from position 691 to position 693 is TAT then the nucleotide sequence from position 694 to position 696 is not AAA; xciv) if the nucleotide sequence from position 694 to position 696 is AAA then the nucleotide sequence from position 697 to position 699 is not TTG; xcv) if the nucleotide sequence from position 700 to position 702 is CCC then the nucleotide sequence from position 703 to position 705 is not AAT; xcvi) if the nucleotide sequence from position 703 to position 705 is AAT then the nucleotide sequence from position 706 to position 708 is not ACA or ACT; xcvii) if the nucleotide sequence from position 706 to position 708 is ACA then the nucleotide sequence from position 709 to 711 is not ATA simultaneously with the nucleotide sequence from position 712 to position 714 being AGY; xcviii) said nucleotide sequence does not comprise the codons TTA, CTA, ATA, GTA, TCG, CCG, ACG and GCG; xcix) said nucleotide sequence does not comprise a GC stretch consisting of 7 consecutive nucleotides of G or C; and c) said nucleotide sequence does not comprise a AT stretch consisting of 5 consecutive nucleotides of A or T.
 3. An isolated DNA fragment comprising the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:3 wherein the GC content of said nucleotide sequence is about 50 to about 60%, provided that a) if the nucleotide sequence from position 121 to position 123 is GAG then the nucleotide sequence from position 124 to 126 is not CAA; b) if the nucleotide sequence from position 253 to position 255 is GAC then the nucleotide sequence from position 256 to 258 is not CAA; c) if the nucleotide sequence from position 277 to position 279 is CAT then the nucleotide sequence from position 280 to 282 is not AAA; d) if the nucleotide sequence from position 340 to position 342 is AAG then the nucleotide sequence from position 343 to position 345 is not CAT; e) if the nucleotide sequence from position 490 to position 492 is TCA then the nucleotide sequence from position 493 to position 495 is not ACC; f) if the nucleotide sequence from position 499 to position 501 is AAA then the nucleotide sequence from position 502 to 504 is not TCA or AGC; g) if the nucleotide sequence from position 517 to position 519 is ACC then the nucleotide sequence from position 520 to position 522 is not CAA simultaneous with the nucleotide sequence from position 523 to 525 being TCN; h) if the nucleotide sequence from position 661 to position 663 is ATT then the nucleotide sequence from position 664 to position 666 is not AAA; i) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 7 to position 15 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of seven contiguous nucleotides of G or C; j) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 61 to position 69 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of seven contiguous nucleotides of G or C; k) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 130 to position 138 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of seven contiguous nucleotides of G or C; l) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 268 to position 279 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of seven contiguous nucleotides of G or C; m) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 322 to position 333 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of seven contiguous nucleotides of G or C; n) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 460 to position 468 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of seven contiguous nucleotides of G or C; o) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 13 to position 27 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides of A or T; p) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 37 to position 48 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides of A or T; q) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 184 to position 192 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides of A or T; r) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 214 to position 219 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides of A or T; s) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 277 to position 285 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides of A or T; t) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 388 to position 396 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides of A or T; u) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 466 to position 474 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides of A or T; v) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 484 to position 489 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides of A or T; w) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 571 to position 576 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides of A or T; x) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 598 to position 603 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides of A or T; y) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 604 to position 609 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides of A or T; z) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 613 to position 621 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides of A or T; aa) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 646 to position 651 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides of A or T; bb) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 661 to position 666 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides of A or T; and cc) the codons from the nucleotide sequence from position 706 to position 714 are chosen according to the choices provided in such a way that the resulting nucleotide sequence does not comprise a stretch of five contiguous nucleotides of A or T.
 4. The isolated DNA sequence according to claim 3, wherein said isolated DNA sequence comprises a nucleotide sequence differing from the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4 in only one position.
 5. The isolated DNA sequence according to claim 3, wherein said isolated DNA sequence comprises a nucleotide sequence differing from the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4 in only ten positions.
 6. An isolated DNA sequence comprising the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID No
 4. 7. A chimeric gene comprising the isolated DNA fragment according to claim 1 operably linked to a plant-expressible promoter.
 8. A method for introducing a foreign DNA of interest into a preselected I-Sce I site of a genome of a plant cell comprising the steps of (a) inducing a double stranded DNA break at the preselected site in the genome of the cell by introduction of the chimeric gene according to claim 7; and (b) introducing the foreign DNA of interest into the plant cell.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein said chimeric gene comprises an isolated DNA fragment comprising the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:
 3. 10. The method of claim 8, whereby said plant cell is incubated in a plant phenolic compound prior to introduction of said chimeric gene.
 11. The method of claim 8, whereby the foreign DNA of interest is introduced into the plant cell by direct DNA transfer.
 12. The method of claim 8, whereby the foreign DNA of interest is flanked by a DNA region having at least 80% sequence identity to a DNA region flanking the preselected site.
 13. An isolated DNA fragment comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
 1. 14. An isolated polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
 1. 15. The method of claim 8, wherein the isolated DNA fragment comprises the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:
 4. 16. The method of claim 8, wherein the plant cell is a maize cell.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the maize cell is comprised within a cell suspension.
 18. The method of claim 10, wherein said plant phenolic compound is acetosyringone.
 19. The method of claim 11, wherein said direct DNA transfer is accomplished by bombardment of microprojectiles coated with the foreign DNA of interest.
 20. The method according to claim 10, wherein said plant phenolic compound is acetosyringone (3,5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxyacetophenone), α-hydroxy-acetosyringone, sinapinic acid (3,5 dimethoxy-4-hydroxycinnamic acid), syringic acid (4-hydroxy-3,5 dimethoxybenzoic acid), ferulic acid (4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamic acid), catechol (1,2-dihydroxybenzene), p-hydroxybenzoic acid (4-hydroxybenzoic acid), β-resorcylicacid (2,4 dihydroxybenzoic acid), protocatechuic acid (3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid), pyrrogallic acid (2,3,4-trihydroxybenzoic acid), gallic acid (3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid) or vanillin (3-methoxy-4-hydroxybenzaldehyde). 